The filmmaker reveals that he test-screened a slightly different ending, which only solidified that his and Keanu Reeves' first instincts were right.
franchise is Lionsgate’s flagship property at the moment, the studio, at first blush, wasn’t too keen on Stahelski and Reeves’ decision to call it a day.
“The response was, ‘What are you fucking thinking?’ The note was, ‘Are you fucking insane?’” Stahelski tells. “And Keanu and I just smiled and said, ‘Yeah.’ We decided we wanted to tie everything together, and we were like, ‘How do you give a proper goodbye?’ So that’s how we sold it to the studio because, at some point, this has gotta end, man.”
Now, that doesn’t mean there weren’t some doubts along the way, as Stahelski and his team conducted additional photography in order to shoot another possible ending that hints at John Wick’s survival during the funeral scene with Winston Scott , The Bowery King and John’s dog. Ultimately, a single test screening informed Stahelski and Reeves that their first instinct for a definitive death was the right one.
“There was a different way to do [the funeral scene], and we wanted it to be a little bit more mysterious. That’s why you see the puppy look up at the end [during the funeral scene],” Stahelski shares. “So we did one test screening, and the audience revolted pretty hard about [the new ending shot during additional photography]. So we thought that we nailed it the first time, and to the studio’s credit, they didn’t even blink.
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