“I have scenes, action sequences in my head”
John Wick: Chapter 4 left fans wondering about the fate of the main character. After the apparent death of John Wick, the director Chad Stahelski is pretty undecided as to the possibility of a fifth film. While Lionsgate wishes expand the universe of John Wick, Stahelski has yet to make a final decision. He acknowledges in Empire magazine that there are ways to bring the character back and seems open to new ideas. About this possible fifth film, he tells Empire:
Honestly, I do not know. Lionsgate is understandably keen on producing more content for the John Wick franchise. It’s not a bad thing for a director to have an IP they want to produce more of. I don’t have a pitch yet. But I might wake up tomorrow and have a cool idea that I’m pitching to Keanu, or he’s pitching to me, and it might be getting closer to being like, “Oh my God, we gotta do this right now!” I have scenes, I have action sequences in my head that we haven’t used yet that I would like to do. If we return to the big screen, we cannot do the same. I need to do my homework. I have to do better.
“We have already seen John suffer more serious injuries than that”
After his box office success ($427 million worldwide), the possibility of a John Wick 5 was immediately brought up pretty much everywhere. Even if the main character is officially dead, there are ways to bring it back. As Stahelski reminds us at Empire: “You know, we’ve seen John suffer worse injuries than that before.” The director considers that the Chapter 4 was a good conclusion … but it still seems enough curious and inventive to want to make this fifth film :
Now that we’ve done the fourth movie and come full circle, so to speak, I think we have a pretty good conclusion to the saga. And then there’s the competitor, or the real director in me, who says, “Holy shit, let’s just see if we can still do this.” It’s very attractive. I don’t have the “why” yet. But that doesn’t mean we should stop looking.
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John Wick 5 by another director? “I want to slap you”
Although there remains unsure if John Wick is really dead or if this was just the end of its “myth”, the series is far from over. In any case, Stahelski is quite clear on one point: although open to the ideas of others, he has no no intention of leaving a possible fifth film to another director. This film will be directed by him, or it won’t be! About a John Wick 5 made by someone else:
I keep my mind really open. If someone I’ve never met before walks through that door and presents us with a pitch, it would be worth talking about! But I am very selfish and jealous. I’m a control freak. I feel like slapping you just for suggesting this idea. (Laughter) How dare you? Of course I want to do it!
While the prequel series The Continental and the spin-off movie Ballerina have different directors, all franchise pundits so far expect Stahelski to take over the reins once again for John Wick 5.
