Chad Stahelski on the ‘John Wick’ Franchise’s Insane Body Count and Keanu Reeves’ Fifth Movie: ‘Still Working on It’

Keanu Reeves insists he hasn’t paid attention to how many people have been killed in the “John Wick” franchise.

“John’s just focused on one thing at a time,” Reeves told me at the “Ballerina” premiere on Tuesday. “He doesn’t look at that. He’s just trying to survive.”

But Chad Stahelski, who directed the first four “John Wick” movies and oversees the franchise across all media for Lionsgate, has a hunch at the franchise’s body count. “I would like to think we cracked a thousand,” he said. “I think we’re probably right around there.”

Stahelski also gave an update on the fifth “John Wick” movie.

“That’s a good question,” he said when I asked about a possible shooting start date. “Still working on it. It’s all about time for us. When everything feels right and we’ve really seen the movie in our heads, we know the themes, we know the cast we want to do it, then we just pull the trigger.”

In a recent discussion with Empire, Stahelski said the fifth “John Wick” installment will be “really different” since the High Table storyline from the first four films reached its natural conclusion.

“The saga of ‘John Wick’ was pretty wrapped up,” he said. “So the only way to do a is to have a new story that involves John Wick. It’s not a continuation with the High Table. John dealt with his grief. It will be really different, and everybody see the trailer and go, ‘Holy fuck… I gotta see that.’”

“Ballerina” stars Ana de Armas as an assassin from the Ruska Roma organization who seeks revenge for her father’s murder. The cast also includes Reeves, Anjelica Huston, Ian McShane, Gabriel Byrne, Norman Reedus, Catalina Sandino Moreno and the late Lance Reddick.

“Ballerina” marks Len Wiseman’s “John Wick” directorial debut. He said he doesn’t mind feeling the pressure to live up to the franchise’s legacy. “Honestly, I like pressure,” he said. “I think pressure gives me fuel to be even more creative. Imagine the opposite and I was a doing a movie and was like, ‘There’s no pressure. It’s not going to be that difficult.’ Then you go, ‘What’s that? That’s not interesting.’”

“Ballerina” is in theaters on June 6.