• Director didn’t expect to come back for multiple “John Wick” movies.
• He said “no one clapped” after the test screening of the first film.
• The 54-year-old filmmaker called the franchise a “blessing.”

Keanu Reeves, who starred in “The Matrix,” reprises his role as the unstoppable assassin in “John Wick: Chapter 4” as he attempts to escape the vast criminal cabal known as the High Table.

The hero also has to fight off swarms of other hitmen because the bounty on his head has increased to millions of dollars.

Since his debut movie in 2014, when he sought retribution on a Russian mobster who had killed a puppy that had been gifted to him by his late wife, Wick has come a long way. Since then, Wick’s rampage has expanded to include Italy, Morocco, Germany, and Japan.

Prior to the release of the sequel, director Chad Stahelski told Insider that he never imagined the series would go beyond two movies, much less four, because the first picture didn’t receive a favourable response during its initial test screening.

Stahleski told Insider: “No, no, no, we never thought we’d get to two. I mean, my co-director partner at the time, David Leitch, we finished the film, we did our first test, and we all went, ‘Uh, no one clapped.'”

Stahelski added that he and Leitch then moved on to other jobs as stunt coordinators, thinking that they’d “mucked it up.”

He said: “Dave and I, we literally just went to second unit jobs and were like, ‘That was really cool. We’re very fortunate to have a chance to try to direct and completely mucked it up.’ You know, ‘Maybe in another lifetime.'”

Stahelski said: “Then the film opens many months later and we get a positive response and then Lionsgate, I still don’t know why, called us back up and go: ‘Hey, would you like to do another one?’ And we’re like, ‘Sure!'”

The director said it’s been a “blessing to have people actually want to see more.”

“Even now, it hits us a little bit. Sitting here is a little surreal for us still. You know, we’re just a bunch of guys that like action movies,” he added.

Also Read

Jennifer Lopez ‘never apologized’ after accidentally cutting Jane Fonda’s brows

Jane Fonda said Jennifer Lopez "never apologized" after cutting her eyebrow. Fonda...