John Wick Producer Erica Lee On More Spin-Offs And What Didn't Make It Into Chapter 4 [Exclusive Interview]

If you've seen "John Wick: Chapter 4," odds are good that you might be hankering for more in the "John Wick" universe sooner rather than later. Erica Lee, who produced all four of the "Wick" films, couldn't agree with you more.

"We're definitely developing more spin-offs," she told me after we talked about the two spin-offs we already know about — the upcoming feature "Ballerina," starring Ana de Armas, and the TV series, "The Continental," which focuses on younger versions of Winston and Charon, who are played by Ian McShane and Lance Reddick in the existing films. The possibilities for additional spin-offs are extensive, though Lee did say that the driving question in decided what to pursue comes down to the question: "What are the characters that stand out in the films, that pop, that have an interesting story to tell, who are still alive?"

Lee shared some of the characters she thinks meet those criteria, and in addition to discussing "Ballerina" and "The Continental," we also touched on the genesis of "John Wick: Chapter 4," including what parts of director Chad Stahelski's original vision did not make it into the film.

Read on for our spoiler-free discussion, which also includes updates on two projects that involve Dev Patel, Bryan Fuller, and Mads Mikkelsen.

Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

I know you've been involved with the "Wick" franchise from the beginning, and it's definitely evolved from the first film to "Chapter 4," and obviously, there are spin-offs now. I would love to start by hearing your experience and your history with the franchise. From your perspective, how did it progressively expand to what it is now?

It's been amazing. I mean, the first movie was a spec script we read, called "Scorn." And even just getting the first one made was a total labor of love and really hard — insane. We did it independently and was really complicated and hard, and no one really knew what we had in the beginning. So when we made the first one, there was certainly no idea — I always say, when we make them, we're burning the house down by the end. We leave it all on the field. So we've been really lucky that people have embraced the movies.

I mean, it is crazy knowing that the first "John Wick" was really this scrappy independent movie, first time directors, and now here we are with "John Wick 4" coming out, and obviously, a much bigger budget, bigger scale, a lot more riding on it. But it's crazy to think how far we've come. Also what I think is really specific to "John Wick" is, I think when we wrapped, before we did additional photography, 11 people had worked on all four movies. And the brand continuity of the core team is really special. The fact that Chad [Stahelski] has directed all four movies, I mean, how rare is that in a franchise?

So there's a lot of love there for that. I would say "John Wick" is my first baby and I've had two actual children. It's crazy where we've come and that the world has embraced them and that we just, the awareness is so high now. And I hear people all time saying things like, "Oh, I missed 'John Wick 2,' but I'm coming in now and going back and watching them." So it's really special. I know this kind of franchise is one in a million, so I don't take it for granted.

I talked with Chad and he spoke about how he always had some space between each film. It sounded like from him, anything's possible, but he was not thinking about doing a fifth film. So I just wondered if you had any take on that? Do you think there'll be a fifth film in the future?

I'm hopeful. I think that on all of the movies at this point in the process, we were like, "We're never doing it again!" They're super hard and exhausting to shoot. "John Wick 4" was 97 days of night shoots, and Keanu [Reeves] gets the s*** kicked out of him. Everyone by this point is like, "We had seven premieres, oh my God, we're done!" But the joke is always, on the Japan trip for the last two movies — there's been a Japan release for both of them that was a couple months later — everyone has had some time to rest and think about what we would do, what we could do. I think we all remember how much we love each other and love these movies. So yeah, I'm hopeful. Is the character of John Wick dead? Are there other versions? Are there different stories to tell? I think so.

Speaking of that, how did "Chapter 4" come to be? Did Chad have a specific idea?

No. I think after the third film we were like, "Oh my God, we can never do this again." And then I'll never forget, Chad and I had lunch one day and he was like, "I'm thinking Japan. I'm thinking nunchucks and snow. Have you seen what they can do with snowmobiles these days?" And I was like, "Okay, we have a movie." It was such small pieces but I could just see the wheels in his brain spinning, and we were off to the races at that point. Then there was Covid, but the good or the bad of it was that it gave us also some more time to develop the script and work on it. And Keanu did "The Matrix [Resurrections]," so that changed. We had a little bit more time in between than we normally do.

Snowmobiles, we didn't see that in "Wick 4." We saw everything else.

We didn't. But we have snowmobiles in "Ballerina."

That's good to know. Speaking of "Ballerina," obviously, there's "The Continental" show and "Ballerina" that we know about. Can you tease anything about "Ballerina?" I know there's some returning characters involved with that, but obviously, it focuses on a new star, Ana de Armas. What do you think "Wick" fans coming to see that movie will get really excited about?

What's cool about "Ballerina" is it's a different setting. So it's, aesthetically, slightly different than the "Wick" movies. Ana de Armas is an incredible actress and she's amazing. I think what's different about her in "Ballerina" is that Wick in "John Wick" is always trying to get out, and the character that Ana plays in "Ballerina" is trying to get in. So what does that mean for the character? What does that mean for the High Table, the world, the Continentals, all of that? And I think that, obviously, there's going to be killer action and use of interesting weapons and amazing cinematography and cool sets. It's a European location, so we're always trying to push the envelope. Then of course, we have cameos and appearances from some of our friends from "Wick" world, so some continuity.

Yeah, I've heard from other folks that the script is impressive and that there are some twists.

We had some time to work on it. It was not something we rushed. I actually read it five years ago for the first time, and then we spent a lot of time developing it and finessing it once "John Wick 3" had shot, and then "John Wick 4," and how does that world inform the timeline and how does it all work? So we're trying to be really thoughtful about it.

What about "The Continental," the TV show? What can fans expect from that?

"The Continental" is really cool. It's an alternate timeline. It's a prequel, right? So it's the birth of the Continental, it's in the '70s. So what we do a good job of in the "Wick" movies is just giving little tastes of backstory and little glimpses of what goes on in The Continental. So it's a young Ian McShane and his rise into taking over The Continental. Winston is a character we give very little backstory on in our movies, so I think that audiences will be excited to see how that evolved.

I would love to hear from your perspective, if you're deciding to do other potential spin-offs, what do you look for? What things would you want to see in any other future spin-offs, just to make sure it's a good addition to the "Wick" universe?

We're definitely developing more spin-offs. And I think it's asking, "What are the characters that stand out in the films, that pop, that have an interesting story to tell, who are still alive?" We kill a lot of people.

Well, you could do another prequel!

Yeah, and also, what are the aspects of the world? The Continental was something we always were really interested in. The Bowery King and the Underground, what is that world like? I think that Rina Sawayama's character of Akira is really fascinating. These are just things I personally would love to explore. Now that "John Wick 4" will be out in the world, I think even more ideas will start flowing.

Yeah, for sure. There are a lot of characters from "Wick 4" that I'd be happy to see in their own film or show.

Yeah, I mean, the dogs. Where do the dogs come from? Where do the Tracker — and Sofia, Halle Berry's character, has dogs in "John Wick 3", so that's always fascinating to me. Where do these dogs come from? How do you get them? What is a tracker? Where is he trained? I don't know. These are just things we think about and talk about.

I interviewed Lance Reddick less than 24 hours before the news broke [of his passing]. It's just so awful. And I'm so sorry to you, as I'm sure you knew him. But I would love to hear if you had any favorite Lance stories from working with him in the franchise.

Lance was just the greatest guy ever, and so it's so heartbreaking and so shocking.

So shocking. So shocking.

And the timing, all of it is so strange. He wasn't on the movies for long stretches. He would come in and just brighten up everyone and the scene. Not only the scenes, but him as a human and his wife Stephanie, and he was just such a great guy. I didn't spend an enormous amount of time with him socially, also because, I was again pregnant on "John Wick 4" and had a baby, a six-week-old, on "John Wick 3." So I would shoot the movie and then deal with life. But yeah, it's really heartbreaking and a huge loss for us and me personally and it's crazy. I was so blindsided by it. I mean, like you said, you were interviewing him.

I know. But he mentioned to me he shot "Ballerina," so he'll be in "Ballerina"?

He's in "Ballerina." He came and shot a day as the concierge. And there is a young Charon in "The Continental." So yes, he still lives on in the franchise, but yeah, so heartbreaking.

So I have a little bit more time with you. Can I ask you a couple quick questions about some of your other projects?

Sure.

Cool. So I noticed you were involved with Dev Patel's "Monkey Man." I know it's coming to Netflix, but is there anything you can tease about it or just the status of where that is?

We're in post on it. Dev is incredible in it. He wrote it, he acts in it, he directs it. It's a real labor of love. It's been very challenging. One of the hardest movies I've ever had to make. We started it in the height of Covid in Mumbai and had to shut it down and bring everyone home. And Dev was like, "Either I make this movie now or I don't. I'm trained. We have everything." So in this crazy experience, we're like, "Okay, we got to figure out how to make the movie." We couldn't leave. So we started figuring out where we could shoot it, and we started doing Zoom meetings with Indonesia and all these other places and ended up shooting it on an island called Batam off the coast of Jakarta.

He shot for 70 days. It's a story based on the Hanuman mythology, which is Indian folklore, a story that his grandfather told him. It's a simple story. It's a revenge story. People will say it's akin to an Indian John Wick. Dev is awesome. The action's insane. It has the look and the feel of India, and the grittiness is palpable. So I think people are going to love it.

Cool. And I saw the other news about "Dust Bunny" with Bryan Fuller and Mads Mikkelsen, which "Hannibal" fans are going to be very excited about, I'm sure. Anything you can tease about that?

We are going to start production later this summer. It's an incredible script. It's unlike anything I've worked on before. I mean, Bryan Fuller's brain is somewhere that I just want to sit inside of. It's visual and interesting. It's like if David Fincher had directed "Amelie." It is insane. And Mads is a singular talent. I worked with him a couple times on the "Clash of the Titans" movies. And they have an amazing relationship. And Mads is playing an assassin, and it's just really f***ing cool.

"John Wick: Chapter 4" is now playing in theaters.