Keanu Reeves is hopeful about the future of the John Wick franchise

John Wick is the greatest action franchise of our time. Actually, it might be the greatest action franchise of any time. Have you seen these movies? Keanu Reeves kills mobsters left and right, fights with a samurai sword and a gun at the same time, stares down cars barreling towards him and more, all with way more agility than you’d think a 50-something guy would be able to muster.

And there’s a story and a mythos in there, too! And his suit is nice. Really, if you haven’t watched these, they’re worth it; I watched them for the first time on HBO Max recently, so they’re on streaming.

John Wick: Chapter 4 lands in theaters next month. The original plan was the film Chapters 4 and 5 back to back, but director Chad Stahelski — who also directed the first three films — was afraid the exhausting schedule would harm the quality of one or both movies. So Chapter 4 will stand on its own…until they decide to make a sequel.

I get tired just watching those movies, so I completely see why you would need a break in between making them. “You might have to give me and John Wick just a little break,” Stahelski told Total Film. “Ask me in a couple of months. In the next week, I’m praying to the movie gods that I finish this one.”

As for Keanu Reeves, he’s happy to wait and see. “You have to see how the audience responds to what we did,” he said. “The only reason we’ve had a chance to make these movies is that people have liked what we have done. So I think we have to wait and see how the audience responds to it. Hopefully they’ll like it.”

If Chapter 4 is on the same level of the first three movies, I can’t imagine that people won’t want more. The franchise has only grown more popular with each new movie and I expect that to continue.

John Wick will return in the spinoff Ballerina

But just because the future of the original movies are uncertain doesn’t mean the franchise isn’t growing. There’s a new spinoff movie called Ballerina in the works, with Ana de Armas as the star. Reeves will also show up as John Wick, although he probably won’t participate in quite as much high-flying action as usual.

“It’s a cool story,” Reeves teased. “[Director] Len Wiseman has a vision, but is also embracing, affectionately, the world of John Wick. Ian McShane is in it as Winston. So I felt that there was a cool handoff of stewardship, and it was fun to put the suit on again, however briefly. There’s a reason for [John] to be in Ballerina; it’s very organic. And working with Ana was great. She really loves action, and she’s really good at it.”

John Wick: Chapter 4 opens in theaters on Friday, March 24.

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