John Wick : Chapter 4 director Chad Stahelski is thinking Keanu Reeves could be back in a fifth movie
Warning: This article contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4.
John Wick: Chapter 4 has proven to be both the best-reviewed entry in the Keanu Reeves-starring action franchise and the most commercially successful. The film currently has a 95 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earned $73.5 million at the domestic box office during the movie's first three days of release. Under normal circumstances, those statistics would make a fifth film in the series inevitable. The problem? The film sees Reeves' titular hitman die on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur in Paris, with Wick's demise seemingly confirmed when Ian McShane's Winston and Laurence Fishburne's Bowery King visit his grave at the end of the film.
Murray Close/Lionsgate Keanu Reeves in 'John Wick: Chapter 4'
So should we abandon hope of the John Wick quadrilogy becoming a quintology? Maybe not. Reeves recently told EW that he was taking a "never say never" approach to starring in a fifth Wick, and filmmaker Chad Stahelski, who has directed all four movies in the franchise, is of a similar mindset.
"Look, a 100 percent honesty, these things are so fun, and challenging, and painful, and special," says Stahelski. "You know, if you ask any director in Hollywood if he could direct his own IP, come up with his own ideas, and have some of the best cast members in Hollywood, have some of the best crew want to work with you because they know you're going to do something special, I mean, yeah, who wouldn't trip over themselves to do that? If you think it wouldn't be a good idea to work with Keanu for the rest of your career, you're crazy; that's nuts, like, of course. But it's the why. Right now, I don't have a why. I'm just getting my head out of this one. To be honest, maybe five months from now, Keanu could be sitting there in that same bar going, 'Hey…' But, right now, we tried to leave everything on the table we could, just put it all out there. Everything we've ever wanted to do in a film, in a John Wick, we did it. As good as we could be at the point we did that movie, that was our best. Now, hopefully, we improve, and we evolve, and maybe there's going to be a time when we look at each other going, got an idea!"
So, does this mean Wick might not be dead after all?
"Let's just say John Wick has found a way to be at peace," says Stahelski. "What's the only way John could have gotten out? He's got to make everyone think he's dead, or he has to be dead, or he has to kill off a part of his persona. However you want to take that, that's cool with us. But it feels satisfying to me, at least, and to Keanu. We've come full circle, and that feels like a satisfying ending. How you interpret it, I'll leave it to you guys."
Murray Close/Lionsgate Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski on the set of 'John Wick: Chapter 4'
John Wick fans will get to see Reeves portray the role at least one more time. The actor plays Wick in the forthcoming spin-off movie Ballerina, which stars Ana de Armas and is directed by Underworld filmmaker Len Wiseman.
"Yeah, I got to work with Ana de Armas and the director Len Wiseman, and they had a great script, and John Wick has a small part to play in it," Reeves told EW. "Len Wiseman was cool. He was like, 'Where do you want to pitch this story in [the] timeline?' So, it takes place between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of the John Wick stories. It was fun to put the suit back on."
John Wick: Chapter 4 is in theaters now.
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