The new part of the franchise about an assassin nicknamed Baba Yaga became a notable event in the Russian film distribution and showed an impressive box office - the best since the beginning of the year, minus the New Year holidays. During the first weekend, the tape collected more than 300 million rubles.
After the departure of most of the key American film companies from the Russian market, Hollywood blockbusters do not often get to the big screens. Studio Lionsgate, which produces films about John Wick, also stopped showing its films in Russia, but did not make official statements. As a result, the new part of the popular action movie was released in Russia on March 23 - simultaneously with releases in many other countries and a day earlier than in the United States.
Despite the departure of the screenwriter of the first three parts of the franchise Derek Kolstad, who alarmed fans, "John Wick 4" received the highest rating on the popular aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, where the "freshness" of the action movie was appreciated by both critics and viewers. Interestingly, this result was the best in the history of Baba Yaga's film adventures - as in the case of the box office for the first weekend. However, rave reviews of the film appeared even earlier - after the pre-premiere screenings.
Most viewers praise the fourth part of john Wick's story for the cast and performance, the fight scenes and shooting, the plot and the denouement. Critics also note that the director Chad Stahelski in the fourth part of his epic closed all the storylines and answered all the questions without losing sight of a single detail.
At the moment, it is known that two projects on the Wick universe are in the works at once. The first is the mini-series Continental, the plot of which will unfold several decades before the events of the first film. The main character will be the future manager of the New York hotel for hired killers Winston Scott, played by Colin Woodell. The roles in the three-part film will also be performed by Mel Gibson, Peter Green, Norman Reedus, Kate Young, Jessica Alleyne and others. According to Erica Lee, the series will reveal many secrets of john Wick's universe - how Continental hotels work, how gold coins are produced for murderers, how Winston got his position and others.
The second project is the full-length film "Ballerina" with Ana de Armas in the title role. The plot will revolve around a girl killer who is obsessed with revenge for the death of her family. Initially, this character appeared in one of the episodes of the film "John Wick 3" performed by the American ballerina Unity Phelan. It is known that both Keanu Reeves and Ian McShane will return to their roles in the film. In addition, the late Lance Reddick took part in the work on the tape, who played Charon, a concierge and friend of the manager of the Continental Hotel.
According to Erica Lee, there are other ideas for offshoot films. The authors are interested in telling the stories of the Pigeon King, whose role was played by Lawrence Fishburne, and Akira (Rina Sawayama), the concierge of the Continental Osaka Hotel from the fourth part of John Wick. Lee said that the scene with Akira in the credits was added to emphasize interest in the heroine and strengthen the desire of the audience to see her on the screen.
Initially, "John Wick" was conceived as a trilogy, and the decision to expand the universe was made by the studio after the great commercial success of the first two parts of the film. Two video games and a comic book series were created based on the action movies.