Nine years after the first John Wick film became a surprise hit, John Wick: Chapter 4 seemed to close the book on the film series… but there’s a chance he could return.
Reeves, 59, starred in “John Wick: Chapter 4,” which hit theaters in March and grossed $187.1 million domestically and $426.5 million worldwide from a reported budget of $100 million -Dollars were apparently killed.
The film’s ending seems to indicate that Reeves’ title character is dead, as Winston (Ian McShane) and The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburn) even visit John’s grave.
The franchise continues with the prequel TV series “The Continental,” premiering September 22 on streaming service Peacock.
Producer Basil Iwanyk revealed in a new interview with Collider that Reeves wanted to be “killed off for good” in the fourth film… but added that there was a “small opening of 10%” that he could return.
Franchise: Nine years after the first John Wick film became a surprise hit, John Wick: Chapter 4 seemed to close the book on the film franchise… but there’s a chance it could return
Returning: Producer Basil Iwanyk revealed in a new interview with Collider that Reeves wanted to be “killed off for good” in the fourth film… but added that there was a “small 10% opening” he could return to
“After the 2nd, 3rd and 4th films, making these films is so tiring and destroys Keanu physically and emotionally,” Iwanyk began.
“At the end he always says, ‘I can’t do that again,’ and we agree with him. “The guy is just a shell of himself because he just goes for it and goes for it,” he added.
“He was like, ‘I want to be killed for good at the end of this movie.’ We said, ‘You know, we’re going to leave a little 10% opening,” Iwanyk revealed.
“We all want another John Wick. “We don’t know what it looks like or when it will happen, but we love each other and we love this world,” he continued.
“It’s going to be a work in progress to find out.” Have we found out? No. And if we can’t figure it out, will there be? No of course not. “No one is going to try to disrupt it just for the sake of disrupting it,” Iwanyk admitted.
The producer added that he, Reeves and director Chad Stahelski (who was Reeves’ stunt double on The Matrix) became such good friends that they wanted to continue making John Wick films just to work with each other again.
“We’ve all become such good friends and we all like each other so much and we’re all so excited about the success of these films, both critically and commercially, that we’re all like, ‘Okay, how do we get the band?’ together in a way that deserves a good story in the next evolution of John,” said Iwanyk.
“At this point it’s Keanu and Chad.” [Stahelski] come together to find out what this story is. The way I describe it is that they’re like Paul McCartney and John Lennon and I’m Ringo. They call me and tell me, “Okay, we’re coming. Here you come and here is our story,” he admitted.
Exhausting: “After the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th films, making these films is so tiring and destroys Keanu physically and emotionally,” Iwanyk began
Here we go: “In the end he always says, ‘I can’t do that again,’” and we agree with him. “The guy is just a shell of himself because he just goes for it and goes for it,” he added
Good Friends: “We’ve all become such good friends and we all like each other so much and we’re all so excited about the success of these films, both critically and commercially, that we’re all like, ‘Okay, how are we? “ “Bringing the band back together in a way that deserves a good story in John’s next evolution,” Iwanyk said
The John Wick franchise has grossed over $1 billion worldwide and is one of the few franchises to increase both its domestic and worldwide revenue after each film.
The first John Wick film – directed by Stahelski and David Leitch – was made on a budget of just $20 million and grossed $43 million domestically and $86 million worldwide.
The second film – John Wick: Chapter 2 – grossed $92 million domestically and $174.3 million worldwide on a budget of $40 million.
The third film – John Wick: Chapter 3 – grossed $171 million domestically and $328.3 million worldwide on a budget of $75 million.