‘John Wick: Chapter 3’ Director Frustrated With Test Screenings

Ahead of the May premiere of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Lionsgate Films and Summit Entertainment have begun to test screen the latest entry into the John Wick to sample audiences. The end result has left director Chad Stahelski a bit frustrated.

Speaking with Collider, Stahelski ran through some of the most memorable notes the movie received after test screenings, often times with members of the audience contradicting themselves in their responses.

“Pacing is always a really true note,” Stahelski mentions. “There’s a lot of contradictory [notes]. ‘What’s the best thing you like about John Wick 3?’ ‘We love the action! We love the action!’ ‘What’s the [worst]?’ ‘Well, there’s just a lot of action, a lot of action.’”

The director went on to explain how contradictory the statement, mentioning that the pedal-to-the-metal action is tricky to deal with as a filmmaker.

“OK, so your best note and your worst note are the same thing?” says Stahelski. “It’s a tricky one to handle. ‘We love your action, but we want you to change it. But if you change it, we may hate it.’ OK, so you love all the action? ‘Oh it’s the best action packed movie I’ve ever seen! But there’s too much.’ OK, what do you want to cut? ‘I don’t know. Good luck!’”

While Parabellum is currently the only John Wick movie announced by Lionsgate and Summit, Stahelski says he and franchise star Keanu Reeves have enough ideas to keep the franchise afloat for years.

“I enjoy making these movies because there’s no limit,” says Stahelski. “We create our own mythology, and we have a studio that both stays out of our way and supports us on the wacky decisions. If people go see the movie, and it makes money, and they came back to us, Keanu and I have ideas for days. I could live here for the rest of my career. If people like it and want to watch more, I could think of way worse ways to spend your career. But, you know, we’re in the entertainment business. We’ll let the audience figure that out.”

Are you looking forward to the third John Wick film? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or mention me on Twitter (@AdamBarnhardt) to gush about that Parabellum trailer!

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum slides into theaters on May 17th.