Director Chad Stahelski Talks 'John Wick 3,' Promises More Cool Reveals Over Big Budget Setpieces

When it comes to sequels, there’s always a balance between taking the big studio check and running with it, expanding the scope and size of the franchise, or being considered in how the world of the series is expanded. This winter’s “John Wick: Chapter 2” had the right touch of opening up the underground universe of assassins that we glimpsed in the original, and allowing the story to include more international locations, but never to the point of obscuring the film’s most important focus: John Wick. Keanu Reeves‘ character stayed true to his reluctant, but deadly, killer roots as we saw more of the inner workings of his life rubbing shoulders with well-heeled criminals in a vast network that includes both highly revered codes of honor and treachery. And when it comes to “John Wick 3,” it sounds like the plan will remain the same.

Director Chad Stahelski revealed to Collider that the script is currently being written for the next film, with plans to hopefully shoot at the end of year or in early 2018. But don’t expect “John Wick 3” to get supersized because of the outstanding success of the previous films.

READ MORE: ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ Is A Bullet Riddled Blast [Review]

“We want, not so much to go bigger on the third one, but to show you more of the intricacies of the world… I feel like there are all these different subtleties that I skipped over in Number Two, that I’d like to go back to on [chapter three] and show you the inner workings of different parts of New York,” the filmmaker explained. “So rather than massive set pieces, I’d like to show you cooler and more intricate ones… I think it would be a mistake budget wise and creatively to just go big and blow up a freeway. That’s not our gig. That’s a comic book or a Bond gig. We want to show you cool and intricate details. What are those little details in everyday life? Hopefully — we make people look at garbage collectors and cleaner vans and homeless people a little differently now.”

The approach makes a lot of sense, especially given that when we last saw John Wick, he was making his way into New York City with a target on his back, and literally every assassin looking to claim the bounty on his head. Seeing the character navigate hidden doorways and passages to survive, rather than doing some kind of “Fast & Furious“-style stunts seems far more reasonable.

Thoughts? Let us know below, but let’s hope we’re not waiting too long to see John Wick back in action.