Lionsgate is prepping an even longer version of John Wick: Chapter 4 in the form of a brand new Director’s Cut, news confirmed by none other than director Chad Stahelski.
The new John Wick: Chapter 4 Director’s Cut was teased by Stahelski in a new interview, where the former stuntman turned-director confirmed he’s almost done with the longer Director’s Cut.
“I’ve been working on the Director’s Cut, the extended cut, which we’ve almost finished,” Stahelski said to Comic Book Movie. “There’s about another, I think, 10 to 15 minutes we put back in. We cut out a big chunk of Berlin, a whole character called The Frau, which is a pretty funny scene with John, and another scene between him and Tracker, a few other little action beats that we put back in.”
While the original theatrical cut of the film was a whopping three hours and forty five minutes, Stahelski said while they were mindful of pacing in post-production, some great scenes were left on the cutting table.
“There’s always stuff we take out because it doesn’t fit the pacing,” he added. “I think the stuff is all super quality, I love the choreo, I love the characters. It just didn’t – as a whole, it changed the pace of the film, and I didn’t think I could get, you know, two hour and 38-minute film in there if it felt slow. I think we got away with it because it felt driven, it felt like it was very purposeful, and I didn’t want to upset that pace. And, if it has to go, it has to go.”
It’s worth noting each film in the John Wick franchise has gotten longer since the original film debuted in 2014. The original film was 101 minutes, the second was 122 minutes, and the third was 131 minutes.
It didn’t take long for Lionsgate to consider a fifth film after the fourth film crushed it in box office sales, now totaling over $1 billion in revenue. The issue is how the fourth film ended and if both Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves want to continue the franchise.
If you’re hungry for more assassination action, the first John Wick spinoff – Ballerina – is premiering next summer and the Peacock spinoff series The Continental was also recently unveiled.
In case you missed it – find our thorough and spoiler-free review for John Wick: Chapter 4 here – it’s certainly the sequel fans deserved and wraps up John’s story nicely.
This is Niche Culture. In this column, we regularly cover anime, geek culture, and things related to video games.
