First John Wick 4 version went almost 4 hours and scared its director: “We are lost”

John Wick: Chapter 4 looks set to be a smash hit. Critics and fans are enthusiastic, only very few are bothered by the almost three-hour running time. Director Chad Stahelski will be happy. The first version of the action hit was almost four hours long and made him despair. The John Wick 4 creators had to cut almost 60 minutes from the film

Speaking to Indiewire, Stahelski explains:

To be honest, we didn’t really have a plan for the runtime. Our first cut was three hours and 45 minutes. And that’s how she felt. We just thought, “Oh, we’re done for.”

A boring film, which also limits the multiple daily scheduling of the film in the cinema due to its monstrous running time, could have meant the ruin of the series. Editor Nathan Orloff had to work with rough methods to reach the final length of 169 minutes. According to the interview, at some point he removed all dialogue snippets that contained information that was already known.

The result speaks for itself. As Metacritic shows, the response from critics and audiences is almost universally euphoric. The length of the film may even be too short for some. After all, a real shock awaits at the end of John Wick 4.

The 10 biggest streaming films of 2023 on Netflix, Amazon & Co.

In this installment of our Moviepilot podcast, Stream Browsing, we take a look at the big movies coming exclusively to Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and Apple TV+ this year. The result is a list of ten special recommendations.

From the sci-fi epic to the potential Oscar nominee, everything is included. The talents gathered are particularly impressive. In 2023 we can expect new movies from Martin Scorsese, David Fincher and Zack Snyder in the streaming space, while Gal Gadot, Leonardo DiCaprio, Henry Cavill and Chris Hemsworth will be in front of the camera.

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