Given how critically and commercially successful the John Wick film series has been since launching in 2014, it’s hardly surprising that following John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum’s release last year, a fourth installment quickly got the green light. Granted, we’ll have to wait a while to see John Wick: Chapter 4, but today brings word that now John Wick 5 is happening as well.
This news comes straight from Lionsgate CEO John Feltheimer, who announced that John Wick: Chapter 5 is coming down the creative pipeline during the studio’s earnings call (via Deadline). But wait, there’s more! Feltheimer also mentioned that the plan is to shoot the fourth and fifth John Wick movies back-to-back once franchise lead Keanu Reeves’ schedule clears up early next year.
Had things gone according to plan, John Wick: Chapter 4 would have started shooting later this year in order to make its original May 21, 2021 release date. However, the current health crisis led to Keanu Reeves’ work on The Matrix 4 was extended due to filming halting in mid-March, then resuming in late June. As such, John Wick: Chapter 4 was delayed an entire year.
However, Lionsgate has managed to make lemonade out of lemons out of this situation. Not only will John Wick’s story continue into a fifth movie, but the studio will block off time to shoot it and John Wick: Chapter 4 in one large block. Paramount Pictures opted to take the same back-to-back approach with Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8 in early 2019.
Because John Wick: Chapter 4 and John Wick: Chapter 5 are shooting back-to-back, I imagine this means the latter could come out a year later, i.e. in 2023, as opposed to being held for two or more years. That said, let’s not forget that the latter two Matrix movies came out within six months of each other in 2003, so maybe this Keanu Reeves franchise could do something similar and have John Wick: Chapter 5 ready to go by winter 2022.
In any case, this marks yet another expansion of the John Wick franchise. In addition to the main film series chugging along, there’s also the film spinoff Ballerina and Starz’s The Continental TV series on the way. John Wick has also led a couple of video games and been the focus of a comic book miniseries from Dynamite Entertainment.
When we last left off with John Wick in the third movie, he’d seemingly been betrayed by Ian McShane’s Winston (there was likely more going on there than meets the eye) and left for dead, but he was rescued by Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King. Both of them now have a major bone to pick with The High Table, and that spat will last at least another two movies.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on how John Wick: Chapter 4 and John Wick: Chapter 5 are coming along. In the meantime, keep track of what’s expected to hit theaters later this year with our 2020 release schedule.
