Today, the John Wick franchise is one of the more successful brands in Hollywood. Each movie has become more successful than the last. As we sit and wait for the fourth chapter to fill our eyeballs with glorious action, anybody who somehow hasn't seen where it all began, or just wants to relive the beginning because you haven't already binged that franchise while in quarantine, can do so, free of charge, as part of Lionsgate's next Lionsgate Live A Night At The Movies. John Wick will be streaming on YouTube for free on Friday and will include a special appearance by Keanu Reeves among others.
John Wick will mark the fourth, and so far final, movie in the A Night At The Movies series, which is co-hosted by Fandango Movieclips. Previously, we saw The Hunger Games, Dirty Dancing, and La La Land and now John Wick will be available to view on May 8 beginning at 6PM PT/9PM ET. As the one R-rated movie in the series, the film will be age restricted.
The film will include a special introduction with appearances by Keanu Reeves, directors David Leitch and Chad Stehelski, Lance Reddick, and even Halle Berry and Asia Kate Dillon, who don't appear until the third movie. Viewers will be able to donate to the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, which helps support people in the motion picture industry.
We've seen a variety of different types of watch parties spring up while everybody has been stuck at home. In some cases, we've had the movie streamed in an easily accessible place for groups to watch together. In other cases, it's been a social media event where everybody starts the movie at their own home at the same time, and the experience is shared over Twitter or Facebook. In many cases the cast or crew involved in the film have joined the fun, providing interesting pieces of behind-the-scenes information about the making of the film.
Some of these have been so good, that I sort of hope that they continue even after we're all allowed to go back to movie theaters. It's a fun new way to engage with our favorite films. It might give some people a reason to see a film they missed the first time around or remember why they liked a movie thy haven't seen in ages.
And if somehow you haven't seen the original John Wick, you owe it to yourself. While the sequels have made a point to try to continue to outdo each other, and in some ways have succeeded, the first movie is still quite special simply for being the first one. The film does a remarkable job at world building without overwhelming the audience in details. The movie is still simple and straightforward. It's a revenge action movie, possibly the best revenge action move ever.
With this being the final of the four movies announced by Lionsgate, we'll have to see if the studio decides to keep this going. At this point, we're still a couple of months away from major releases opening in theaters, and that assumes that theaters are ready to open by then. While some smaller business are beginning to open in some parts of the country, there's no indication when movie theaters will be safe again.
