John Wick Chapter 4 was considered the end of the line, but Keanu Reeves wanted his character to have a definite conclusion. However, there’s a small opportunity left for Wick.
Keanu Reeves urged to be ‘definitively killed off’ in John Wick Chapter 4
John Wick Chapter 4 seemed to be the final chapter for the legendary hitman, John Wick. After defeating the High Table once and for all, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) tumbled down the stairs in Paris. And according to the franchise’s creator, Basil Ivanik, this is exactly what Reeves wanted.
Reeves is exhausted after making these films because he puts his body and soul into the stunts and performances. By the time they were working on John Wick Chapter 4, he had pushed himself to his limits, and Ivanik revealed that Reeves was pleading to “definitely” kill off Wick at the end of the film so he could finally rest. However, they couldn’t let Wick go completely, so they left him a small chance to survive, as Ivanik previously revealed to Collider’s Kristina Radish during an interview about the upcoming Wick spin-off, The Continental.
Ivanik said, “After the second, third, and fourth films, it’s very taxing to make these movies, and it takes a toll on Keanu, physically and emotionally.”
“In the end,” he always says, “I can’t do this again,” and we agree. He’s a man who’s a show unto himself because he just goes and does it. He was like, ‘I definitely want to die at the end of this movie.’ We were like, ‘You know what, let’s leave 10% open.'”
The director of John Wick also mentioned that due to their close relationship with producers and film studios over the years, they were hesitant to end all the franchises because they might miss working together in the next installment. He compared Stahelski and Reeves to The Beatles and said that they’d be happy to wait until they find another good story for Wick’s next development.
“We’ve all become very good friends, and we all like each other a lot, and we’re all so happy with the critical and commercial success of these films that we all kind of quietly think, ‘Okay, how do we get the band back together for another good story in John’s next development?’ At this point, Keanu and Chad [Stahelski] are sitting down and figuring out what that story is.
The way I describe it is they’re Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and I’m Ringo. They’ll call me up and say, ‘Okay, we’re coming. Here’s where you are, and here’s our story.’
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