Lionsgate
During a recent interview, John Wick franchise director and former stuntman Chad Stahelski revealed that the production actually audience-tested two different endings for the most recent entry in the franchise, John Wick: Chapter Four.
According to Stahelski, who was speaking with Empire Magazine, endings that see Wick both survive and die were tested, and apparently, audiences greatly preferred the latter, which is the one they ultimately went with.
“We had a different ending,” Stahelski said. “[The theatrical ending] was the ending Keanu and I wanted, but we shot a different ending. We shot an ending where you actually saw John Wick at the end of the movie. So it was very clear that he was still alive. The audiences we tested with absolutely preferred the ambiguous ending.”
While John Wick: Chapter Four did ultimately land on an ending that sees Wick “die”, that means virtually nothing considering the fact that this is the John Wick franchise we’re talking about, which has created a world in which Wick’s survival could easily be entertainingly explained.
Not that we’d ever be stupid enough to doubt Keanu Reeves, but if they do want to make a fifth John Wick film then they should probably get those wheels turning sooner rather than later as the legendary action star is set to turn 59 years old in September.
Granted, while Tom Cruise is still making Mission: Impossible movies in his 60s and Harrison Ford is still starring as Indiana Jones in his 80s, the amount of physical performance that Reeves put forth in the John Wick films is far greater, meaning it will be more difficult to pull off the holder he becomes.
Despite the fact that the future of the main John Wick films is currently up-in-the-air, the state of the overall franchise is not, as the prequel series The Continental will hit Peacock later this year, while the Ana de Armas-starring spin-off Ballerina is set to hit theaters next summer.
Prior to the release of John Wick: Chapter Four, BroBible’s Post-Credit Podcast had the chance to sit down with Stahelski for a long chat where we dove into all things Baba Yaga, including what the ending of the most recent film in the franchise means. You can check that out below.