In what always seems like a harbinger of doom for any franchise, John Wick has parted company with his creator. While promoting the Bob Odenkirk-led action thriller Nobody, writer Derek Kolstad let slip to Collider that he is no longer on-board the franchise he created.
He is not involved in the writing process of either the fourth or fifth film, and it was not his decision. Lionsgate did not bring him along to the latest party:
At a certain stage of the studio will tell you, your creation is graduated, and you wish it well. I’m still close with Chad, still close with Dave, and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m excited to see. It wasn’t my decision. When you think of the [contracts] of these things, the third one I shared the credit with any number of people, they didn’t have to come back to me, and so they didn’t.
Seeing what the industry is and how things go, I just believe that you bless everything and hope it all the best, and to the players involved who are doing other things elsewhere. And yeah, it’s personal, so I’m never going to talk shit about John Wick. I want this thing to survive and thrive.”
Kolstad did say that the various spin-offs are still moving forward and some big announcements are coming.
TV series The Continental, and the Len Wiseman-directed Ballerina are known to be in the pipeline. John Wick 4 and 5 will shoot back-to-back and close out the franchise. They start shooting later this year.
