Few people could've expected the John Wick franchise to become such a sensation. After two solid installments, the series has proven its earning potential and become one of Lionsgate's best properties. Fans seem to love Mr. Wick's ability to deliver jaw-dropping kills, but now it looks like a brand new interactive experience in New York City will soon allow fans to run and gun just like their favorite assassin.
Per a new report from THR, Lionsgate has officially announced plans to open a John Wick-inspired "experience" in New York City in its brand new Lionsgate Entertainment City attraction. The John Wick experience will take the form of a shooting ride in which participants will face off against a series of bad guys inspired by the overall style and look of John Wick: Chapter 2. The Entertainment City is expected to open in Times Square in 2019, and there is currently no word if pencils will be provided or if you have to bring them from home.
The John Wick franchise isn't the only property about the get the interactive experience treatment in the Lionsgate Entertainment Center. In addition to the gun-fu-focused ride based on the Keanu Reeves action film, the Center will also feature locales inspired by The Hunger Games franchise, as well as an obstacle course based on the Divergent series. Beyond that, a dining experience based on AMC's Mad Men is also reportedly in development.
Looking beyond the location in Times Square, it seems that Lionsgate has some pretty far-reaching plans for how to establish itself as an interactive entertainment giant. There are similar locations planned in Europe, the Middle East and parts of East Asia, and there's also a plan in place to open a Lionsgate-based theme park in South Korea. When you put all of that together, I think it's pretty clear that my own travel to-do list just got quite a bit longer.
This John Wick-centric shooting experience should go a long way towards easing our anticipation for the third installment in the hard-R revenge franchise. When we last saw Keanu Reeves' gun-toting badass, he was in the process of escaping New York City after being declared "excommunicado" by the folks from The Continental. As a result, the franchise seems poised to undo all of the intricate rules and ideas established by the first two films as John dives into uncharted territory. Reeves himself has already laid out plans for how he wants John Wick: Chapter 3 to open, as well as the fact that he wants to see Doctor Strange actress Tilda Swinton to sign on for the threequel. All things considered, it's pretty clear that there's still a lot to get excited about in this world.
CinemaBlend will bring you more information related to all of the attractions coming to this Lionsgate Entertainment City (as well as the franchises that have inspired them) as new details become available to us. Circling back to a more traditional moviegoing experience, have a look at our 2017 movie premiere guide and our 2018 movie premiere guide to keep yourself in the loop on everything else set to debut over the next year.
