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John Wick: Chapter 4 is the longest movie in the series, clocking in at 2 hours and 38 minutes. The director, Chad Stahelski, has now discussed the runtime and reacted to people who criticized it.
Speaking to Discussing Film, Stahelski started off by saying it’s not fair to say the movie is nearly three hours long. Its total runtime is 2 hours and 38 minutes, and this includes 10 minutes of credits. Fans will want to stick around, though, as there is a very important post-credits scene.
Stahelski went on to say the people criticizing John Wick 4’s lengthy runtime also have no problem binging a “whole season of television on a Sunday afternoon.” Stahelski also pointed out that films from directors Christopher Nolan and James Cameron are often longer. Avatar: The Way of Water, for example, was more than 3 hours long.
“Everybody goes out and watches three seasons of TV on a Sunday, or they will watch whole five episodes of Game of Thrones at night. And because you’re on your couch that makes it different?” Stahelski said.
Part of the concern with a long runtime is that people might need to get up to stretch their legs or go pee–for Stahelski, that’s perfectly fine. He even mentioned that John Wick 4 has a scene that is intentionally aimed at encouraging people to get up to urinate.
“I agree with Cameron saying Americans are the only ones that are uncomfortable with getting up and taking a bathroom break. ‘I don’t want to get up so I have to hold it and now it’s way too long!’ Like, just stand up,” Stahelski said. “I got something for you, for anyone watching John Wick: Chapter 4, after the water scene in the club, I did that to make you want to go to the bathroom. That’s a good time to go to the bathroom and come back, and you would be fine [laughs].”
“Sit back, eat your popcorn, and if you have to go to the bathroom, go to the bathroom. I’m not on a mission to do a two-and-a-half-hour movie. We just wanted to expand the world, expand the characters, and we had a 135-page script,” the director added.
Finally, Stahelski mentioned that John Wick 4 was originally 3 hours and 45 minutes long, meaning he and his editor cut out an entire hour. They also tested a shorter version that came in as short as 2 hours and 10 minutes, but it was “terrible,” Stahelski said.
“I challenge it back to the fans. ‘Okay everybody, be a director, what would you cut out? What bores you? Too much action? Not enough action?” [laughs]. “So I throw it back at the fans to just enjoy it,” he said.
John Wick 4 is in theaters now. If the movie does big numbers at the box office as it’s expected to, Stahelski said he will sit down with Keanu Reeves, drink booze, and map out the next John Wick movie.
“Keanu and I will take the long trip to Tokyo, we’ll sit in the Imperial Hotel Scotch Bar and go, ‘What do you think?’ We’ll have a couple 20-year-old whiskies and write some ideas on napkins. If those ideas stick, maybe we’ll make a movie,” Stahelski said.
The John Wick series will continue beyond the main story with a spin-off focused on the character Ballerina, who is played by Ana de Armas. Reeves will have a cameo as John Wick in the movie.
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