John Wick Director Chad Stahelski Had A Massive Argument With The Studio Over One Note

After Keanu Reeves' assassin seemingly perished at the end of "John Wick: Chapter 4," it seems he's set for a return. "John Wick 5" will bring Keanu back from the dead, with studio Lionsgate keen to keep the franchise's momentum going after a couple of spin-off missteps, the latest being the Ana de Armas-starring "Ballerina."

Sadly, the box office returns for "Ballerina" appeared to be a death sentence for the John Wick universe, which only really seems to bring in crowds when the man himself is front and center. With a 76% Rotten Tomatoes score, an A- Cinemascore, and a title that makes no secret of the film being "From the World of John Wick," "Ballerina" should have done better than $109 million on a $90 million budget. So, why didn't it? Well, the obvious answer is, again, because John Wick wasn't the main attraction, and with TV spin-off "The Continental" also falling flat, it seems that audiences only really want to show up for Reeves' hitman and not much else in this burgeoning cinematic universe.

If you asked Lionsgate execs, however, I'm sure they'd have a few ideas about why "Ballerina" underwhelmed, especially since studio execs have been weighing in with notes ever since the very first "John Wick" debuted in 2014. One studio suggestion in particular remains a sticking point for franchise director Chad Stahelski, who despite shepherding the flagship films to box office success, still remembers being told to shave off some time from his and co-director David Leitch's inaugural Wick film.

Studio notes don't have the best reputation, and that's because a lot of the ones we hear about just seem, well, ridiculous. Consider, for example, that a clueless studio exec tried to cut the drumming from "Whiplash," The original "John Wick" wasn't immune from such suggestions, either. It didn't help that when the film was being produced back in the early 2010s, there was nothing to suggest it would even make its budget back let alone become a hit. Keanu Reeves was in a bit of a career lull and co-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch were making their directorial debut. With that in mind, the studio likely felt a little more inclined to suggest changes, but it seems the notes didn't stop after the first movie, and one in particular it seems Stahelski has never forgotten.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stahelski was asked if there was any studio note that he regretted taking. "On one particular 'John Wick,' I had a s**t fight over literally three minutes," he said. "Most studios, and even critics, have this weird thing about run times. Do you really give a f**k how long a movie is? The real question is: Are you bored?" In this instance it seems the studio wanted to shave off some time from the final cut of a "John Wick" movie, but that time seemed negligible at best. As Stahelski explained:

"They'll say, 'There's metadata that says people get bored with anything over two hours and 20 minutes.' No one's going to come out of a movie going, 'That movie is f*****g great, but it should have been a nice 2:36.' So when they said, 'You've got to cut three minutes,' I looked at them like, 'The audience gave it a 90 in a test score!'"

It's not clear which film the director is talking about. If it was the first, then the final "John Wick" runtime is 101 minutes, and while Stahelski didn't directly state that he took out three minutes of footage, he was asked about studio notes that he took, so it seems the original runtime might have been closer to 104 minutes. What exactly was cut also isn't clear, but considering the films all proved successful, it can't have been all that important.

Chad Stahelski isn't a big fan of what he sees as an obsessive focus on runtime among studios and critics. In fact, he seems to have nothing but disdain for it, telling THR:

"I have sat through a 90-minute movie that felt like four hours, and I had watched 'Lawrence of Arabia' or 'Seven Samurai' and it felt like two hours even though they're four. No one bitched and moaned about 'Return of the King' and Peter Jackson's cut is four hours, so f**k off."

Ironically, the latest installment in the main movies, "John Wick: Chapter 4," arguably could have benefitted from a light edit. With the fourth installment, Stahelski and his team threw caution to the wind and produced an ode to cinematic combat, showcasing elaborate set-pieces that lasted much longer than anything else in the series — which considering the franchise we're talking about is saying something. But as /Film's Witney Seibold wrote, "John Wick: Chapter 4" is proof that an action movie can have too much action. The final sequence in particular, wherein Keanu Reeves' hitman battles his way through Paris, seems particularly indulgent to the point that Stahelski managed to make some of the most inventive and outlandish action yet seen on film start to seem dull, tedious even.

Clearly Lionsgate weren't too bothered about asking Stahelski to cut things down, as the director claimed the longer cut of "Chapter 4" was "rough and boring in parts," suggesting he was happy to make a few edits. But he arguably should have followed that studio note from a decade prior a bit more closely and been a bit more enthusiastic with the cuts.