Fans celebrate the heartthrob Keanu Reeves’ John Wick franchise as one of the greatest action franchises of the modern time. The series followed the adventure of John Wick in four installments so far.
But what could be the fate of the franchise, that is a question many fans are waiting on an answer to be revealed yet the ending of John Wick: Chapter 4 left all ambiguous. But the makers have revealed that the ambiguous ending was not originally planned.
The Original Ending of John Wick: Chapter 4
It seemed obvious that Keanu Reeves’ John Wick finally paid his due and acquired peace but the end of the film also ambiguously indicated the end of the titular hero after the great duel with Caine played by Donnie Yen. But did he die?
Sure, the ending scene took the audience to the graveyard where John Wick’s tombstone was shown near his wife’s grave. And many speculated that this is the end of the action hero in the franchise.
The director of the movie, Chad Stahelski, however, revealed that the original ending was less ambiguous than the finalized screen version. “We had a different ending,” Stahelski told Empire. “[The theatrical ending] was the ending Keanu and I wanted, but we shot a different ending,” he added.
“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.”
Well, the director has spoiled all the suspense for the next installment of the franchise. It would be not beyond the possibility of faking Wick’s death in the film as a man of his stature can do almost anything.
John Wick 5 In the Making?
Like all the previous movies in the franchise John Wick: Chapter 4 was also a box office hit as the movie grossed over $432 million worldwide while equally gaining critics’ praise. Reportedly, Lionsgate gave the green signal to the fifth installment but nothing about the movie is revealed yet.
The important questions to ponder over are, what will be the fate of John Wick, and how the new story moves forward? The answer is still uncertain. However, the director earlier revealed that at some point the hero has to die which was an indication of Wick’s death in the latest installment. “We didn’t feel like we had done our best. We both felt like we could have ended the series better,” Stahelski said of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
“We didn’t feel like we stuck the landing, and that’s a s*itty feeling. Because we love the character, we love working together, we love the world.”
Being unsatisfied with John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the actor, and the director went on to make the next movie. “Yeah, he’s got to die. And we got to come up with the coolest way to make that happen,” he said.
Back to John Wick 5, producer Basil Iwanyk has confirmed that John Wick 5 is in development but the story is yet to be decided as it was still in the early creative process and they don’t know what the movie “looks like or feels like.”
In the meantime, Stahelski confirmed that John Wick: Chapter 4 director’s cut is in the works where fans will get to see up to 15 minutes of new footage. A prequel series of the franchise, The Continental is set to go on air on 22 September 2023 on Peacock while Ana de Armas-led movie, Ballerina of the John Wick Universe is scheduled for theatrical release on 7 June 2024.
Source: Collider.
