The director of John Wick: Chapter 4 has disclosed that the film was inspired by three unexpected sources.
The first film in the John Wick series, released in 2014 and starring Keanu Reeves as the title character, followed his quest for vengeance against a criminal organization responsible for the death of his dog and the theft of his automobile.
This expanded universe of assassins has been explored in two sequels, with a third installment scheduled for release on March 24, 2023, and many spin-offs now in production.
Chad Stahelski, who has directed every John Wick picture since co-directing the first with David Leitch, was interviewed by Empire for their most recent edition.
Chapter 4 was inspired by an unexpected trifecta, as he said in our conversation: "if you took The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, combined it with Zatoichi, and put a Greek story into the mix."
He spoke enthusiastically about how much he enjoyed directing the series since it gave him the chance to blend so many different styles.
Here is the entirety of his words:
You may get something like this by crossing The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly with Zatoichi and tossing in a Greek story.
What other f—- says phrases like that?
You've finally figured out my secret passion for John Wicks.
When compared to the typical style of a contemporary action movie, Stahelski's common influences are somewhat shocking.
The first is the spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from 1966, in which Clint Eastwood plays the Man with No Name, one of three bandits looking for buried Confederate riches in New Mexico during the Civil War.
But zatoichi is a whole other form of creative expression.
The Blind Swordsman is a fictional character who was originally developed by Japanese writer Kan Shimozawa in 1948 and has since appeared in over two dozen films and one hundred episodes of television.
Modern action movies like Zatoichi also owe a lot to the samurai culture of Japan.
Considering that the subgenre also include the culturally seminal 1977 film Star Wars and more recent works like 2007's Sukiyaki Western Django, it's clear that projects fusing samurai and Western themes aren't all that rare.
The addition of Greek mythology, however, suggests that John Wick: Chapter 4 will take a very different approach to these themes than the previous installments.
John Wick: Chapter 4 has the potential to reach the pinnacle of the action franchise's already colossal nature if it takes the risk of turning its plot into true myth.
The film already has a massive scope as it follows Wick as he strives to overthrow the High Table as his worldwide alliances alter unpredictably due to the appearance of a new adversary.
However, these factors suggest that John Wick's universe will not only grow; instead, it will merge into a world of gigantic characters who are duty-bound to opposing groups, therefore bringing them into unprecedented confrontation with one another.
The first film in the John Wick series, released in 2014 and starring Keanu Reeves as the title character, followed his quest for vengeance against a criminal organization responsible for the death of his dog and the theft of his automobile.
This expanded universe of assassins has been explored in two sequels, with a third installment scheduled for release on March 24, 2023, and many spin-offs now in production.
Chad Stahelski, who has directed every John Wick picture since co-directing the first with David Leitch, was interviewed by Empire for their most recent edition.
Chapter 4 was inspired by an unexpected trifecta, as he said in our conversation: "if you took The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, combined it with Zatoichi, and put a Greek story into the mix."
He spoke enthusiastically about how much he enjoyed directing the series since it gave him the chance to blend so many different styles.
Here is the entirety of his words:
You may get something like this by crossing The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly with Zatoichi and tossing in a Greek story.
What other f—- says phrases like that?
You've finally figured out my secret passion for John Wicks.
When compared to the typical style of a contemporary action movie, Stahelski's common influences are somewhat shocking.
The first is the spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from 1966, in which Clint Eastwood plays the Man with No Name, one of three bandits looking for buried Confederate riches in New Mexico during the Civil War.
But zatoichi is a whole other form of creative expression.
The Blind Swordsman is a fictional character who was originally developed by Japanese writer Kan Shimozawa in 1948 and has since appeared in over two dozen films and one hundred episodes of television.
Modern action movies like Zatoichi also owe a lot to the samurai culture of Japan.
Considering that the subgenre also include the culturally seminal 1977 film Star Wars and more recent works like 2007's Sukiyaki Western Django, it's clear that projects fusing samurai and Western themes aren't all that rare.
The addition of Greek mythology, however, suggests that John Wick: Chapter 4 will take a very different approach to these themes than the previous installments.
John Wick: Chapter 4 has the potential to reach the pinnacle of the action franchise's already colossal nature if it takes the risk of turning its plot into true myth.
The film already has a massive scope as it follows Wick as he strives to overthrow the High Table as his worldwide alliances alter unpredictably due to the appearance of a new adversary.
However, these factors suggest that John Wick's universe will not only grow; instead, it will merge into a world of gigantic characters who are duty-bound to opposing groups, therefore bringing them into unprecedented confrontation with one another.
