[Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4]
If you look at John Wick from the perspective of a studio head – in this case, Lionsgate — you know that’s a character you’d want to live for as long as possible, particularly when the box office returns rise each time he appears on screen. However, when director Chad Stahelski pitched John Wick: Chapter 4 to producers and studio executives, he knew it wasn’t going to be an easy sell. After all, the director and screenwriter had decided to kill off the moneymaking title character.
But in an interview with Collider Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub, Stahelski revealed what it was like telling Lionsgate his plan for the sequel and how the studio trusted him enough to end the John Wick arc, which is why he offered to shoot two different endings for the movie. He made the case as to why Wick's story needed to end, delivered a 135-page script, filmed it, and then showed the two endings to test audiences to see which one got the better reception. As he said:
“I got a lot of faces. I mean, I have a very good relationship with Lionsgate. They're great, they've been very supportive, but I don't think any exec or any producer in the world would smile when you say you're gonna kill off their successful franchise character. […] But, you want to have that confrontation, like, 'Look, this is what's right,' but you’ve got to see it from their side, too. […] But you know, 'Let me try to execute it the way we are. Let me build the story around it and I'll do you a solid. I'll tell you what, I'll shoot the ending two ways, you know, with one extra little thing, two extra little shots. I'll let you know he's alive, and I'm gonna leave it up to the audience to decide, and we're gonna test both.' […] And they were super cool. They let me go through the whole movie. […] … and you know, the test audience has definitely had a favorite of that, which is the ending that you guys saw, and it was nice to show and get actual feedback […] And everyone was very understanding of that, and it was good to come to that conclusion together without having to fight it or force it.”
How Different Was The 'John Wick: Chapter 4's Alternate Ending?
As the director makes clear, one ending was a little bit more optimistic and let the audience know that John Wick survived his duel with Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) and Caine (Donnie Yen). At the same time, we can’t ignore that the ending we’ve seen on the big screen is open enough to allow for a comeback. We never see a body, only the gravestone that Wick himself asked Winston (Ian McShane) to make. This could suggest that the badass gun-fu master may have died, but the man we saw back in the first movie might be resting somewhere with a new puppy by his side.
And even if John Wick manages to stay dead or in hiding, the franchise is far from over and there’s a slate of characters who can continue carrying the franchise on. In John Wick: Chapter 4 we’re introduced to Rina Sawayama’s Akira, who’s already showed great talent for fighting and has unfinished businesses with the High Table. Soon, we’ll also meet Ana de Armas’ Rooney, who will kick off her story in Ballerina.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is out now in cinemas everywhere. You can watch our full interview with Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves below: