'John Wick' director says fourth film will boast ‘a better story’ than predecessors

The fourth John Wick movie is still seven months away, but we’re already getting teases about what’s in store for Keanu Reeves' titular character. In addition to seeing a teaser trailer at San Diego Comic-Con, we also know that Reeves will be riding a horse once again, and that the opening scene takes place somewhere in a desert. 

Today, Chad Stahelski —  the stunt coordinator-turned-director at the helm for all the John Wick films — has given us another glimpse of what we can expect in the franchise’s fourth installment. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter focused on the Netflix movie Day Shift, which Stahelski produced, the filmmaker also shared his thoughts about the upcoming John Wick movie, which is simply called, John Wick. 

“I could also bitch and moan about the artistry of having to outdo yourself,”  Stahelski said about how he approached making the fourth film. “Our success has lent us the ear of certain execs who trust a little bit more now. So when I say, ‘Keanu is going to ride a horse, he’s going to slide cars around the Arc and we’re going to have [a] big waterfall set with dogs biting crotches,’ people take me a little bit more seriously and say, ‘I don’t understand how he’s going to do it, but that’ll probably look good.’”

Stahelski’s reference to dogs biting crotches and the other scenarios mentioned above come from the franchise’s third installment, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. However, the fourth film doesn’t necessarily try to be bigger than its predecessor, though Stahelski does think it will be a better story.

“Keanu and I talk about it a lot, but doesn’t everybody want to improve at whatever it is they do?” the director said. “So I just tried to put all the things I’ve gotten better at in the last two-and-a-half years, into this movie. I hope that will make the movie better, instead of just trying to do bigger explosions and bigger s**t. If I tell a better story, which I think I’ve done, and do my job a little bit better in every avenue, I think the movie will be better.  I also know I’ve got an amazing cast. So that’s my philosophy, and I’m going with it. I could be completely wrong. It could be a bomb, but I’m going to stick with that philosophy for now.”

We’ll be able to judge for ourselves how the film compares when the fourth John Wick movie, titled John Wick, premieres March 24, 2023. 

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