‘John Wick’ Filmmaker Says that Franchise Could Go to Chapter 10

In a nutshell, the entire John Wick franchise exists because someone murdered the protagonist’s dog. That might be taking it to its most basic level, but without his pooch biting the bullet, we wouldn’t be getting at least four sequels, a spinoff series set in Winston’s three-part origin tale.

It sounds completely insane when broken down like that, Chad Stahelski revealed he’d want to see it all the way to Chapter 10 if audiences keep showing up in droves to view Keanu Reeves shoot, stab, punch, kick, and generally maul an undetermined number of faceless goons.

However, the filmmaker told The Hollywood Reporter that the process is a bit more macabre than coming up with fun action sequences and then jumping ahead, with the hitman’s trauma and distress being the starting point that the creative team loves to work backwards from.

“We keep finding new and interesting ways to have John Wick suffer. That’s where the action comes from. Figure out how to make him suffer, and then design backward. We do it chapter by chapter. Just like an author; write the chapter, scratch head, write next chapter.”

Based on the enthusiastic welcome that greeted the CinemaCon footage, it looks as though Reeves, Stahelski, the stunt coordinators and the various willing performers are about to continue enhancing John Wick’s reputation as perhaps the finest action franchise of this century based solely on the accolades and adulation that have defined it thus far.