Being an assassin isn’t an easy job, even for A-List actor Keanu Reeves.
In fact, the A-Lister reportedly begged for his character John Wick to be killed off, after racked up an insanely impressive body count across the four films.
If you’ve not watched the fourth and potentially final instalment of action films, we suggest you watch it and come back here afterwards as there are major spoilers ahead.
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Released last March, the film franchise came to an epic conclusion with John Wick: Chapter 4 as the titular hitman finally severed ties with the murky High Table organisation.
However, one final duel saw off the assassin with him being shot and his fate left frustrating ambiguous.
While fans might be holding out for a fifth film, it’s unlikely as the Matrix star reportedly begged filmmakers to kill his character off.
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During an interview with Collider, producer Basil Iwanyk claimed that Hollywood’s good guy was left ‘exhausted’ by the intense stunt sequences throughout the series.
The producer told the outlet: “After the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th movie, making these films is so exhausting and it destroys Keanu, physically and emotionally.
“By the end, he’s always like, ‘I can’t do this again,’ and we agree with him. The guy is just a shell of himself because he just goes off and goes for it.
"He was like, ‘I wanna be definitively killed at the end of this movie.’”
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However, many are still hoping that the franchise will be revived – especially with spin-offs Ballerina and the prequel series The Continental both set to be released.
Understandably though, Iwanyk is cagey about a potential reboot, but did state that the door has been left open for Reeves’ possible return.
“We were like, ‘You know, we’ll leave a 10% little opening,’” he told Collider.
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Earlier this year, director Chad Stahelski spoke with Entertainment Weekly and gave a similarly bleak update about a fifth film.
Though he wasn’t against another instalment, he revealed that he didn’t have ‘a why’ to ‘return’ to the franchise just yet.
He said: "I'm just getting my head out of this one. To be honest, maybe five months from now, Keanu could be sitting there in that same bar going, 'Hey…' But, right now, we tried to leave everything on the table we could, just put it all out there.
"Now, hopefully, we improve, and we evolve, and maybe there's going to be a time when we look at each other going, got an idea!"
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It seems John Wick is staying buried for just a little longer.
Topics: Keanu Reeves, TV and Film, John Wick, Celebrity, US News
Katherine Sidnell