John Wick 4 Director Addresses Criticism Over Epic Runtime

John Wick: Chapter 4 hits theaters next week and is the biggest John Wick film still – not just in the scenery.

The fourth film was confirmed last month to be an epic 169 minutes long, making it the longest of the series by some margin. There were some questions about whether it needed to be this long, given that the first film clocked in at a tight 101 minutes.

As for returning director Chad Stahelski, he isn’t fazed by the criticism. “If that’s the criticism, we’ll take it,” he said Digital spywith Keanu Reeves comparing the new film to an “opera”.

Stahelski added, “I don’t think we ever worried, we just watch the movie. I think the length is what we feel is the best version of the film. We tried longer, we tried much shorter. That’s what we consider a good movie.”

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It certainly seems to have worked as John Wick: Chapter 4 received rave initial reactions following its world premiere earlier this month.

Fans had to wait a little longer for the return of the killer, with the film originally scheduled for release in May 2021. The delay allowed them to perfect Chapter 4with Reeves revealing that Stahelski “tried a lot of different avenues for the story”.

“They take a little time to put together, and we wanted to make sure we had the story in our head first,” Stahelski continued. “I think he just took what he had to. When we felt ready, we were like, “OK, we’re ready.”

The fourth film was originally going to be filmed back-to-back with a fifth film, but Reeves recently gave a disappointing update about a new John Wick adventure:

“You have to see how the audience reacts to what we’ve done. The only reason we had a chance to make these movies is because people liked what we did. So I think we have to wait and see how the audience reacts. Hopefully they will like it.”

John Wick: Chapter 4 hits theaters March 24.