They almost got it done again! According to Chad Stahelski, this is what Lionsgate told him when he finished making John Wick 4.
John Wick 4 It’s already in theaters and everything has been crazy. The audience has seen something totally unexpected and those who have not been able to go are biting their nails wanting to know what is happening now in the saga. However, the film came very close to being totally different.
your manager Chad Stahelski recently confessed in an interview that the studio didn’t quite agree. Without spoilers, the company wanted a different ending, but the filmmaker tried to convince them that this was the best. He made it.
“Their response was: ‘What are you fucking thinking?’ The note was, ‘Are you fucking crazy?’” Stahelski tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Y Keanu (Reeves) and I just smiled and said, ‘Yeah.’ We decided we wanted to tie it all together, and we said, ‘How do you say goodbye properly?’ That’s how we sold it to the studio because, at some point, this has to end, man,” he stated.
On the other hand, he was sincere and acknowledged that it was not closed at any time. In fact, he came to think about being less forceful and going more towards an open ending. (If you haven’t seen the movie, beware: there are spoilers below).
“There was a different way of doing [la escena del funeral], and we wanted it to be a bit more mysterious. That’s why you see the pup look up at the end [durante la escena del funeral]”Stahelski shared. “So we did a test screening, and the audience was pretty rebellious. [la nueva toma final durante la fotografía adicional]. So we thought we nailed it the first time, and to the studio’s credit, they didn’t even blink an eye,” he added.
On the death of Lance Reddick
On the other hand, the developer once again referred to the unfortunate and sudden death of Lance Reddick. Just a few days ago, Stahelski commented that he couldn’t imagine the franchise without Charon. Now, after what happened, he reaffirmed his words.
“I’m sure you’ve lost people, and it’s always complicated. You are always caught between the memory and the pain of losing someone, the loss, but you also have a bittersweet feeling because you are grateful to meet him. So obviously it’s a little weird when you see what happens in the movie,” she asserted.
Lance Reddick (1962-2023)
He also recalled the moment when the team approached Reddick to offer him the role. He, in turn, reacted happily. “But when we went to see Lance, he understood and we explained to him:“ You are going to be Charon, the guardian. John Wick is going to be like Greek mythology. It’s a fantasy movie like The Lord of the Rings, but in the present day.” And Lance took about 10 seconds and said, “Oh, I totally get it. This goes to be really cool”. And that was it. We thought, “Oh my gosh, this directing thing isn’t that hard. This is easy. We have guys like Lance.” But that’s the kind of person he was,” he added.
At that time, he was not able to hide the emotions he felt when he found out about the death and remembered fond moments on the set. “And when Lance came down on set for the first time, he said, “I’m going to do an African accent. I’m going to play very zen. I’m not going to move. Charon seemed the Oscar statue. That’s how proper the guy was, and that was all Lance. So he taught us to shut up and listen to the professionals from time to time, and I have nothing but incredibly positive memories of Lance. He always made you feel good about being you. He made everyone feel better when he walked into the room,” he concluded.
Ballerina
Elsewhere, Stahelski is preparing to step aside in the franchise and allow Len Wiseman to direct Ballerina. The spin-off will focus on some point in the saga that everyone has already seen and will feature the original cast, but in supporting roles. The protagonist will be Ana de Armas.
“When someone, let alone an entire studio, comes up to you and says, ‘We want more,’ you have this knee-jerk response of saying no. You have this control freak nature because you don’t want them messing with anything, but at the same time, you’re also very flattered that people like your ideas. Creatively, I just have what’s in my head and what my influences are. So when they approached us with this release to Well of Armas and Len Wiseman, we just said, “That’s a great idea.” I love Len as a director. I’m friends with him, and he’s a great guy,” he said of Ballerina’s pregnancy.
Lionsgate
The creative closed by commenting on his advice to the creative team of Ballerina. “AND Len (Wiseman) and the studio have been so respectful of John Wick that Keanu Reeves and I said, “Okay, that’s great, but don’t be too respectful.” You have to go out and do your thing. You have to put your own spin on this. This is how we keep this going. Let’s try to stay true to what we love about him.” So apart from starting and trying to give Len all the support he needs, [Ballerina], in a good way, is a different entity from us. A spin-off is a strange word, but it’s a story about a world tangent to John Wick’s. And hopefully Len hits things we never hit or gets opportunities we didn’t get with our story structure. So I wish him the best with that,” he finished.
