During an interview with Collider back in April, John Wick directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch revealed that they will be coming back to The Matrix franchise to lend some of their stunt expertise to the fourth installment.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Stahelski teased some of the crazy ideas, stunt sequences and set pieces director Lana Wachowski has in mind for the fourth installment.
“She comes with this idea. She comes with this set piece. She comes with, ‘This is the character. This is what’s happening. This is the conflict. This is where I need him to be emotionally or psychologically or whatever plot-wise at the end of this sequence. What do you got in your bag of tricks to make it absolutely crazy?’” Stahelski said. “She’s one of those great people that she’ll tell us something and we’ll say, ‘Okay, we’ve got this.’ Then she’s like, ‘Oh my God, that’s awesome. I didn’t think of that, but what if we took this and made it this?’”
He also assured fans who aren’t entirely sold on a new Matrix film that they are going to be pleased with what Lana is doing with the film: “She always kind of one-ups you and that’s a challenge. She’s probably still the most challenging person, in a good way, that I’ve ever worked with… If you love the Matrix trilogy, you’re going to love what she’s doing because she’s brilliant and fun and understands what the fans want.”
Ballerina scene courtesy of John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabelllum
Stahelski also spoke about Ballerina, the upcoming John Wick spin-off that may star Chloe Grace Moretz in the lead role as a young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family.
He promises that the film, which is being directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free Or Die Hard) will have some of the high octane action we’ve come to expect from the John Wick universe.
“Having him on board and approaching some of the action design from a slightly different perspective, meaning the set pieces, the character involvement, how and what he wants to do during the action sequences, makes it kind of fresh.” Stahelski said. “So, we’re not just copying ourselves over and over again with gun-fu or something like that. And because the character is different, we’re going to get a different take on things.”
He also said that Wiseman and Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum) are still working on Ballerina’s script. “So, right now, I know that him and Shay are developing Ballerina. I’m not exactly sure what stage it’s at, but it’s something I know that both Lionsgate, Thunder Road and myself would like to see happen sooner rather than later. And from what I’ve heard recently, they’ve got a good angle on it and they’re actively developing.”
Chad Stahelski
The Matrix 4 is set to free your mind on May 21, 2021. The fourth installment will see Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Jada Pinkett Smith reprising their iconic roles as Neo, Trinity and Niobe. The film will also feature newcomers Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Toby Onwumere, Brian J. Smith, Ellen Hollman and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who is rumored to be playing young Morpheus. It was recently teased that should scheduling work out, Lambert Wilson could possibly return for The Matrix 4 as Reloaded and Revolutions villain the Merovingian.
As for John Wick 4, it’s scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 27, 2022. There is also a television prequel series in the works from Starz, titled The Continental. No word on when Ballerina will begin shooting, but most likely since the script is in development, I have a feeling they will most likely want to begin filming sometime in the fall. In addition to working on a fourth John Wick film, Stahelski is also developing a Highlander reboot.
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