John Wick Director Outlines Franchise’s Future Beyond Chapter 4
John Wick: Chapter 4 director Chad Stahelski hints he has ideas for multiple sequels in the eponymous neo-noir action franchise starring Keanu Reeves.
John Wick: Chapter 4 director Chad Stahelski insists he has plans for many more chapters in the eponymous action franchise amid the development of John Wick 5.
Speaking with Inverse, Stahelski revealed there are notebooks filled with ideas for potential sequels beyond John Wick 5, which Lionsgate confirmed is in the works back in May. However, Stahelski admits a story for John Wick 5 hasn’t been properly fleshed out yet and doesn’t want to do another sequel just for the sake of making money.
“I have notebooks and notebooks of sh*t behind me, John Wicks5, 6, 7, 8, 9. We have ideas for days. We just don’t have the story locked,” he said. “I have no interest in doing the cash grab of bringing John Wick back for something.
Is he a character I like? Of course. And if I did a couple of John Wick movies, great. Keanu would do one again in a second if we had a good story. We leave that open-ended. I know that the studio would love us to say we have another one.”
Stahelski previously confirmed Reeves is keen on doing John Wick 5, reprising his role as the titular hitman despite seemingly meeting his demise in Chapter 4. However, he and the legendary action star are taking their time to flesh things out, working with each other and the studio to come up with a story worth investing in for moviegoers.
“Keanu and I are always interested in that, but we leave it hanging out there a little bit to figure out if we have something that we’d want to watch,” he said. “Second, we have a studio that’s very enthusiastic and not just financially motivated, but they’re just interested in seeing what we could do with it. So, they’ve been super cool of us this year about branching off.”
Additionally, Stahelski is interested in seeing more spinoffs based on characters from the John Wick film series. Having previously expressed a desire to see more spinoff films like the upcoming Ana de Armas-led flick, Ballerina, Stahelski believes there’s vast potential in expanding the John Wick universe.
“Keanu and I both went back, and we all said, ‘Look, we have ideas for the John Wick world, other characters that aren’t John Wick-centric.
Would you guys be interested in exploring that?’ And they were super cool, and they said, ‘Yes, we’d be very interested in that.’ Characters that weren’t in any of the movies that had fallen to the sidelines because they just didn’t fit in our storylines, and some existing characters that we’d like to see other things,” he said.
John Wick Has Come a Long Way After Nearly a Decade
The John Wick franchise has come a long way from the 2014 original, which Stahelski initially feared would sink the film series. John Wick is regarded as one of the best action franchises of its time, with Chapter 4 marking its apex as the latest sequel grossed a series-best $432 million at the global box office and attracted a 94% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Until John Wick 5 premieres, a director’s cut for Chapter 4 is on the way from Stahelski. Meanwhile, the drama miniseries, The Continental, a spinoff chronicling the rise of Winston Scott amid his eventual takeover of the eponymous New York hotel chain, is now airing on Peacock.
