[ad_1]
Warning: SPOILERS for John Wick: Chapter 4!After recovering from being shot by Winston in Parabellum, John Wick is on the hunt for the High Table in John Wick: Chapter 4. John Wick has discovered a new path to bringing down the High Table and earning his freedom. However, when the High Table sends the cunning Marquis Vincent de Gramont after him, John Wick’s allies are in danger and his old friends become adversaries.
John Wick: Chapter 4 stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShan, and the late Lance Reddick. Chad Stahelski, who has helmed this universe from the beginning, returns to direct John Wick: Chapter 4. Joining the star-studded cast are Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, and Clancy Brown.
Screen Rant spoke with producer Erica Lee about her 10-year journey from John Wick to John Wick: Chapter 4. She discussed the mind-blowing ending of John Wick: Chapter 4 and shares which characters could be at the center of new spin-offs. Lee also revealed what fans can look forward to in both Ballerina and The Continental.
Erica Lee on John Wick: Chapter 4
Screen Rant: You’ve been a part of this John Wick franchise from the beginning. What’s been the most surprising aspect of this 10-year journey?
Erica Lee: I’ll never get over the fact that it was this spec script that I read; that it was independently financed, and the movie fell apart like 10 times. It was such a labor of love and such an uncertain commodity, the first one, that we really willed to exist. It’s still so crazy to me, and here we are 10 years later.
This is a one-in-a-million franchise; the love of it, the way that we’ve been able to grow, and also the fact that there’s really a small core team that has worked on all four. I’m in such rarified air that Chad has directed all four movies. The brand maintenance that we have on this one is very rare.
It also gets better every movie, which is also very rare.
Erica Lee: Every movie, no matter what, is hard to make. You never have enough time or money, so making it is hard, having it be good is hard, and having anyone see it is hard. This is certainly the victory lap. It’s been a long decade, and it’s amazing that our reviews are so great and the fan feedback is so great. Because you just never know.
One of my favorite parts of the John Wick storytelling is that we don’t explore his past through flashbacks but through relationships. What inspired the idea of having John Wick go up against Donnie Yen’s Caine?
Erica Lee: John Wick movies are deeply inspired by Westerns and Samurais, and I think the coda of brotherhood and mentors is something that we wanted to explore in the movies in general. But we always loved the idea that there would be this character that John was a contemporary of back in the day. What happened? How did that relationship work? What do they have in common, and how does that make them friends yet also great foes? That’s sort of how the character of Caine first came up in the development.
I was flabbergasted by the end. I think I sat there speechless for three minutes. Is this really the end for John Wick?
Erica Lee: I hope not. I have heard Keanu say that this is the death of John Wick the character, but also, what does that mean? Is that the alias of John Wick? Is that the assassin John Wick? I think the answer is we don’t know yet. I think we have more story to tell, and are hopeful for a fifth. In what capacity that is or what the story is, I don’t know yet. But I’m hopeful.
I’m really excited for the spinoffs too, because I love exploring the world of John Wick. Chad has been the one behind Wick the entire time, but are there any directors that you think would be the perfect fit for telling a different character’s story?
Erica Lee: There’s a lot of other interesting directors out there, and plenty would be great. I think once the world sees John Wick 4, there’ll be a lot of those discussions. I’m always learning who is a fan of the franchise and who would raise their hand for something like that, but I’ve had an incredible experience thus far with Albert Hughes on The Continental and Len Wiseman, who directed Ballerina. They’ve all been amazing to work with and are amazing talents, and theyre really great at coming into the universe and making certain things their own, and also adapting a lot of what we have.
Speaking of Ballerina, that’s the first time we’re really going to see this world from a different perspective. What’s the most exciting part of exploring John Wick’s universe through someone else’s eyes?
Erica Lee: Ballerina has been amazing to develop, and it’s interesting because it’s been almost five years in development. With each John Wick movie, it gets tweaked a bit. But it’s really interesting because I think the character of John Wick is always trying to get out, and I think that the character that Ana de Armas plays in Ballerina is trying to get in. Just there alone is a different character study.
And also, it’s a female perspective. Ana is an amazing actress and brings so much to it. It’s a very different vibe than Keanu, so I think that audiences are really going to be interested in that.
I’m also very excited for The Continental. What aspects of Winston, Charon, and tihe Continental in general were the most interesting to explore?
Erica Lee: The cool thing about The Continental is that it’s an alternate timeline. It’s the 70s, so it’s the birth of the Continental. What we love in the movies are that people get glimpses of the coins and the rooms in the Continental, and the inner workings of the hotel. There’s very little backstory on characters like Winston.
What is interesting and fun to explore is how Winston got to become the manager of the Continental. How are the gold coins made? What are the inner workings of the hotel? That was something that I was so fun for me to work on, and I think audiences will really love it. We have a little bit more time to tell the story in that timeframe.
I love the world-building. The characters in the John Wick universe feel so real and complete, even if we only see them for a short time. Are there any other characters you’d like to explore through spin-offs?
Erica Lee: Yeah, I think the world of the Bowery King and the Bowery is something that we’re really interested in exploring more of. He sort of runs the underground, and it’s such an interesting world. How does he get the guns and the boats? He shows up everywhere. He’s the leader; he has homeless running the streets and information through pigeons. He’s low-tech and analog in a digital world, and he knows everyone and gets everywhere. I think that is something that’s really interesting to explore.
The character of Akira really pops in the movie, and I’d love to sort of see some further adventures with her character. There’s a lot! There’s a lot of characters in John Wick 4, and a lot of fan favorites from movies of the past. There’s definitely a lot of stuff we want to dig deeper into.
It seems like you almost set up a future for Akira with that mid-credits scene.
Erica Lee: Yes, I think that she is such an interesting character in the world, and so badass that I really want to see more of her.
One of my favorite small moments in the movie is when John and Tracker [Mr. Nobody] finally are face to face, and he saves his dog instead of shooting him. It really calls back to what started everything. Why was it so important to include that intimate moment in such a bombastic movie?
Erica Lee: I think that you always need some respite in between the exhausting, very long, insane action. I think we’re always looking for quiet moments, funny moments, and let the audience off the hook to breathe and to feel.
That character of [Mr. Nobody] is deeply influenced by Westerns like The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and things like that. I think that the brotherhood and the code is something that we’re always exploring in the movies. The idea that John would let him live, and that they sort of empathized over dogs is so on brand for us and was really an important moment.
About John Wick: Chapter 4
Following the events of Parabellum, John Wick has found a new path to defeating the High Table and is taking the fight to them. But before he can try to earn his freedom, a powerful new enemy will turn even more people against Wick, including one of his oldest and most dangerous friends.
Check out our other John Wick: Chapter 4 interviews here:
[ad_2]
Source link
