Over three hours running time
“John Wick: Chapter 4”: “Director’s Cut” includes more scenes from Berlin and new character
He is our favorite assassin: Keanu Reeves as John Wick in the fourth part of the saga.
© Murray Close/Leonine/Lionsgate/dpa
Attention “John Wick” fans: director Chad Stahelski has announced a new version of the fourth part. She should break the three-hour mark and come up with a new character.
Like the previous parts, “John Wick: Chapter 4” hit like a bomb. With revenues of 4.8 million euros, the sequel, which was released in cinemas in March, secured the financially strongest opening weekend of the year so far in Germany, and the hit also surpassed it in the USA with revenues of 73.5 million US dollars look forward to new records.
So it’s no wonder that “John Wick” maker Chad Stahelski wants to get everything he can out of the blockbuster. In an interview, Stahelski now confirmed an additional “director’s cut” – an alternative cut version of a film with which directors usually want to realize their personal artistic intention – which should be available on DVD, Blueray and in 4K. He told ComicBook, “I was working on the director’s cut, which is an extended cut that we’re almost done with.”
More Berlin scenes and a completely new character in “John Wick 4”
About 10 to 15 minutes of footage has been added, including numerous Berlin scenes, which also include a whole new character called “The Woman,” he explains. “There’s a pretty funny scene with her and John and another scene between him and Tracker. We also put some other little action bits back in,” Stahelski continues.
The original version of the fourth part lasts 3:45 hours and was shortened by almost an hour – this is also a length that is still very long for a feature film. As a result, high-quality scenes had to be cut, since even 10-15 minutes can affect the pacing of the entire action movie, he explains.
“If a scene has to go, then it has to go”
“I think the scenes are of high quality. I love the choreo, I love the characters,” says Stahelski. Overall, these scenes would have changed the pacing of the film. “And I didn’t want a two hour, 38 minute film that felt slow.” They “got away” with the still relatively long running time, because the film still feels purposeful, he explains. Nevertheless, he emphasizes: “if a scene has to go, then it has to go.”
Keanu Reeves at the “John Wick: Chapter 4” premiere in Los Angeles in March this year.
© LISA O’CONNOR / AFP
It is still unclear when the new version of the film will be available for purchase. However, a joint release with the DVD, Blu-ray and 4K versions can be expected, which should also be available in Germany from September 15 this year.
Incidentally, the fifth part of the saga has already been announced, but will probably not be released before 2026, as production is still at a very early stage. In the meantime, however, fans of the franchise can look forward to two more cinematic events. The prequel of the series in series form entitled “The Contidental” starts on September 22, 2023 on Amazon Prime Video, the spin-off “Ballerina” will be in German cinemas in just over a year on June 6th.