Keanu Reeves cut a lot of his John Wick 4 dialogue – and speaks just 380 words in the movie

Keanu Reeves speaks just 380 words in John Wick 4, which has a runtime of 2 hours and 49 minutes. 

The numbers come from a report by Wall Street Journal (via Variety), who calculates that Wick speaks his limited amount of words across 103 lines of dialogue in the new film. Almost a third of the dialogue consists of just one word, too, like Wick's infamous "yeah."

That, though, is intentional: Reeves himself and director Chad Stahelski cut down the character's lines, removing around half of the dialogue. This includes the moment where Bill Skarsgård's Marquis and Wick decide on the rules of their duel. The scene originally included Wick speaking half of the dialogue, but Reeves switched things up so that his character only speaks a bit and in one-word responses – like "pistols" for his weapon. 

The longest piece of dialogue spoken by Wick in the movie comes in the Osaka Continental, when the assassin tells Hiroyuki Sanada's character: "You and I left a good life behind a long time ago, my friend."

"It's a shock when you work with him how dedicated he is to not speaking," co-writer Michael Finch told WSJ.

The lack of dialogue isn't a reflection of how hard Reeves is working in John Wick 4, though – the movie features some seriously breathtaking action sequences, and Reeves is famous for performing as much of the action himself as possible. 

Though Stahelski has indicated he wants to let the movies "rest" after John Wick 4, Lionsgate boss Joe Drake wants Reeves to return to the role, and producer Erica Lee has shared her hopes for the franchise. 

"There is another film that we're developing that I think we'll be announcing in the next, say, month or two," she revealed. "Then, I'm hopeful there's a Ballerina 2, and John Wick 5, and lots of other things. But we're developing a lot of stuff and having a lot of discussions with a lot of writers and brand management and Wick universe is my utmost priority."

John Wick 4 is in theaters now. If you're up to speed on the movie, check out our spoilery deep dives on the John Wick 4 ending explained and the John Wick 4 post-credits scene. 

For everything else the year has in store, see our guide to 2023's major movie release dates.