Hollywood sure knows how to take a good thing and then beat it to death, don’t they? According to director Chad Stahelski, Summit Entertainment has already asked him and his creative partners to come up with ideas for John Wick: Chapter 3. This comes on the heels of a big coming out party for John Wick: Chapter 2, which had a kickass trailer debut during New York Comic-Con over the weekend.

SEE ALSO: “Watch Keanu Reeves Kick All Sorts Of Ass In The JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 Trailer!“

“The studio has asked us to put our heads together and see if we can come up with something,” Stahelski told Collider, about a third film. “Winston’s [Ian McShane] is a big part of the next one, so is Lance Reddick. We’ve got some ideas.”

The director also took some time to discuss how they arrived at the decision to make John Wick: Chapter 2 start practically where the first film left off:

“When it came to coming up with a story idea, we had like ten bad ideas, and they we were like, ‘fuck it,’ what would have just happened the next day. Once we stopped worrying about ourselves, it was fun. Is it as good as the first one? I don’t know, that’s personal opinion. Did we go better in some ways? Yes. Did we explore the character more? Yes. It’s better, I think, technically. Is the enjoyment better? Yes, it’s there, but it’s completely different.”

See, I’m guardedly excited about John Wick: Chapter 2 but, as I’ve said before, I worry that they’re trying to catch lightning in a bottle for a second time. Part of what made the first film so good was what a no-frills, pleasant little surprise the film was. It was reminiscent of the first Taken movie, where no one really saw it coming and thought it was a neat, bare bones thriller that was executed efficiently with a game star at its center (Liam Neeson). I fear that going back to the John Wick well this many times is going to do the same to that franchise as, say, Tak3n did to that series.

If there’s a reason to be optimistic here it’s that Stahelski is the one being asked to shepherd the series. It’salways refreshing when a studio sticks with the people who created the success that they’re trying to expand on, and not just jump around to any director-for-hire that’ll sign up for cash-grab sequels. 

Of course, none of this will matter if John Wick: Chapter 2 falters at the box office when it comes out. We’ll see how that all plays out when the film arrives on February 10. 

SOURCE: Collider