Making an action movie can be a tough experience for an actor, and that will almost surely be the case for many of the performers making the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4. After all, the franchise is famously stunt and fight heavy, and as such there are going to be a lot of people who go home from set each day needing to relax and put ice on sore muscles. For star Donnie Yen, however, it won't be the physical toll that the production takes that will prove to be the hardest part of the experience. Instead, according to a sweet social media post, the real challenge will be having to spend time away from his family.
Donnie Yen, who is a martial arts movie legend, announced today on Instagram that he is now getting set to start his work on John Wick: Chapter 4 – which is planning to shoot in locations all around the world – but his post is less excited and more somber than you might expect. While a lot of actors kick off work on a new project by hyping its existence and their involvement, Yen's photos and caption have a different kind of tone. Check out his message to his followers (or more specifically, his family) below:
As featured in the photos, Donnie Yen has a wife and two children, and he is evidently going to miss them dearly as he is either fighting with or alongside Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 4. He writes in his caption:
I find it harder and harder to leave my family for filming, going to miss so much of their life which I desperately want to be part of, will make the best of this one and make them proud!
It was only a little over a month ago that news broke of Donnie Yen's involvement in John Wick: Chapter 4, and he has joined an awesome ensemble that promises to perform a hell of a lot of ass-kicking on the big screen. In addition to Laurence Fishburne returning to join in the eponymous character's war against the sinister and powerful High Table, the cast also includes Doctor Strange's Scott Adkins, Mortal Kombat's Hiroyuki Sanada, IT's Bill Skarsgård, and more. With director Chad Stahelski back at the helm, all signs point towards the film being another excellent addition to the growing assassin franchise, and we can't wait to see it.
While John Wick: Chapter 4 only entered production within the last few weeks, the finished product is scheduled to arrive in less than a year's time (it helps speed up things in post-production when there aren't thousands of VFX shots to render). The movie will be heading exclusively to theaters on July 22, 2022, and to check out all of the features set to come out next year be sure to check out our 2022 Movie Release Calendar.
