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Keanu Reeves On John Wick: Chapter 4’s Climax, Possible Fifth Film (SPOILERS)

March 29, 2023 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Keanu Reeves John Wick: Chapter 4 Image Credit: Lionsgate

WARNING: Spoilers follow for John Wick: Chapter 4

John Wick: Chapter 4 debuted in massive fashion this past weekend, and Keanu Reeves recently weighed in on the film’s climax and potential future. The fourth film in the action franchise opened in big fashion with over $73 million domestically, and it brought the titular character to the apparent end of his journey as he seemingly died at the end of the film after killing the Marquis (Bill Skarsgård).

Reeves, who has played the role in four films and will reprise it for Ballerina (which is set between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4), spoke with EW about the film and potentially reprising the role again in some fashion. Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Joe Drake had told THR that while the film was originally planned to close the franchise (with spinoffs already planned) he would be open to a fifth main franchise entry, saying, “There’s a will and there’s an openness. And you could certainly interpret that ending in different ways. We’re all going to take a tiny rest here and then scratch at ideas about whether there’s a credible way to get into five. But there’s no guarantee.”

You can see highlights from Reeves’ conversation with EW below:

On when he and Chad Stahelski began talking about Chapter 4: “During the press tour for Chapter 3, we started to think about, if the audience likes it, and we get the chance, what would that movie be? What would the story be?”

On deciding to retire the character: “The first conversation we had was, ‘Why? Why make it?’ And the note behind that note is, what’s the story? And for he and I, it felt like, what was authentic and true was John Wick’s journey to death. That was the first idea; that was the why of why we made the movie. That, for us, was the organic, authentic story to tell for the character of John Wick and the John Wick world. So that was the first idea, that was the first like, that’s what we’re going to do. Okay, now let’s invent a story of how that happens.”

On the death scene: “[It is] amazing. I loved it. You know, for the character, his heart is full of so much love and, at the same time, playing the last breath of a character had some weight to it.”

On if he would be willing to reprise the role for a fifth film: “I don’t know, I guess I’m going to have to lean on never say never. I mean, I wouldn’t do a John Wick film without Chad Stahelski. We’d have to see what that looked like. For me, it feels really right that John Wick finds peace.”

On working on Ballerina: “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. 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.”