John Wick 4: Director Says Sequel Is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Meets Zatoichi

By Adam Barnhardt

Next up for Keanu Reeves is John Wick: Chapter 4, a film Chad Stahelski says is the biggest one of the franchise yet. In fact, the director says it's a genre-crossing epic, somewhere between the Western and Samurai worlds with a little Greek mythology sprinkled on top. Speaking in a feature story with Empire Magazine, Stahelski teased just how massive a movie the fourth Wick flick is going to be.

"If you took The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, crossed it with Zatoichi, and threw in a Greek myth, you'd probably get something close to this," Stahelski told the magazine. "And who else f-cking says those kinds of sentences? Now you know why I like doing John Wicks."

Genre aside, the filmmaker added that John Wick: Chapter 4 travels the globe as it fleshes out the Wick Universe even further, something fans loved to see during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

"It gets a little scary after the third one," he added. "Because now we have a formula that works. But you have to throw caution to the wind and say, 'F-ck it, we're not doing that again.' So now, on number four, we have multiple storylines. The movie feels different. It feels more epic."

The film will have scenes in France, Jordan, Tokyo, and more, largely as a result of Stahelski's traveling tendencies.

"I travel a lot," Stahelski concluded. "I'm in Paris scouting, and see the Arc de Triomphe and I'm like, 'Okay, I got an idea.' So I put it in the movie. I've got some cowboy friends in the stunt community, so I think, 'That would be a cool horse gag.' Two of the big sequences were last-minute inspirations that I've always wanted to try but just didn't know how to do."

Chapter 4 is just the latest in entries for the ever-expanding John Wick franchise. The Ana De Armas-starring Ballerina is now in production and will see the return of Reeves' John Wick, Winston (Ian McShane), and The Director (Anjelica Huston). Ballerina and The Continental have yet to set release dates while John Wick: Chapter 4 will hit theaters on March 24, 2023. What other John Wick Universe spinoffs would you like to see? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter!

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