The global pandemic was caused absolute havoc with film production. Films that were set to release have been waiting in the wings for an opportunity to enter theaters. Productions had to be put on hold, delaying films that had release dates set years in advance. One of those movies that has needed to wait has been the highly anticipated fourth entry in the John Wick franchise, but co-star Ian McShane expects to be seeing his friend Keanu Reeves sometime this year, though he doesn't know exactly when.
Ian McShane recently spoke to Collider and while the actor had no specific details on the plans for filming John Wick 4 (as well as John Wick 5) the actor said that he spoke briefly with star Keanu Reeves around the first of the year and expressed his expectation that they should be seeing each other in person at some point in 2021 to film the next movie, if not the next two. According to McShane...
Keanu [Reeves] and I exchanged New Year’s greetings and said, 'Hope to see you this year.' I know the script is being written and they’re hoping to do it this year. I know they announced they were gonna do [John Wick 4] and [John Wick 5] together, but who knows. The studios announce all sorts of things. No doubt, at some point this year, we’re gonna do John Wick 4.
John Wick: Chapter 4 was originally set for release in May of this year, but when the global pandemic brought everything to a screeching halt, that release was delayed, and the movie is now set to open in May of 2022. Assuming that date sticks, then it is quite likely that filming on the next John Wick will take place this year, probably in the next few months. With the need to have enough time to complete post-production, it probably won't be able to wait much beyond this fall and still make the May date.
Without a firm filming schedule, it's unclear if the current plan, to film the next two John Wick movies back-to-back, is still the plan. Under the circumstances it makes a lot of sense. Considering that a lot of precautions will still need to be taken while filming any movies this year, only having to go through those extra steps once, and getting filming done for two movies, will save a lot of time and money.
Hopefully, filming will take place this year and John Wick: Chapter 4 will release on schedule. Chapter 3 left fans with many questions that we all want answers to and we don't want to wait any longer to get them. Chief among them, just what side is Ian McShane's character on? Is he the bad guy now? There's a decent chance even he doesn't really know the answer since he clearly hasn't seen a finished script.
