We don’t have to tell you it’s been a rough year for travelers. It’s pretty common knowledge, especially as many U.S. citizens now move on to “revenge travel” over the summer season as the COVID-19 pandemic slows down. And as it turns out, Hollywood productions are doing a bit of travel vengeance themselves, including Keanu Reeves’ famed hitman John Wick. The fourth John Wick movie is getting ready to film and it’s spearheading a major development for overseas productions.
John Wick: Chapter 4 will be among the first movies to shoot on location in Paris, France since the coronavirus struck the city, along with the rest of the globe, early last year. The movie to be directed by Chad Stahelski is gearing up to begin filming in the country following the European country finally relaxing restrictions, per Variety. Nearly 40% of the French population has now received at least one dose of a vaccine, and over 11 million people have been fully vaccinated there.
The John Wick sequel has been planning to shoot around the world for some time, and now the Lionsgate film is pulling the trigger on France after completing a first unit in Berlin, Germany. The Paris shoot will last a couple weeks, including exterior shots by the Seine, before reportedly later moving to New York City and Japan as well if all goes as expected.
The Paris scenes are expected to be major action scenes as well. What’s nice about a Hollywood production like John Wick: Chapter 4 filming in France is it benefits from a 30% tax rebate for international shoots, along with an additional 10% if some visual effects are done in the European country as well.
Keanu Reeves will reprise his role as the suit-and-tied hitman following the events of 2019’s Chapter 3 - Parabellum. Both Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of the John Wick movies have been greenlighted by Lionsgate after the success of the recent installment, although they are no longer shooting back-to-back. The last film crushed over summer 2019 with a $326 million worldwide gross, doubling the ticket returns from the second movie in 2017.
For the moment, we’ve been kept in the dark about what Keanu Reeves’ John Wick will be up to in the fourth movie, but he will be joined by pop singer Rina Sawayama in her feature film debut. Aside from John Wick: Chapter 4, the Russo Brothers’ upcoming Netflix movie starring Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Regé-Jean Page The Gray Man will also soon move its ongoing production to France following some updated rules by the country.
For the Hollywood productions heading to France, they will not be required, but rather “advised” to quarantine for seven days before stepping on set starting next week, allowing for some more relaxed rules to adhere to. Additionally, COVID-19 testing is not required on France sets. These softer guidelines could usher in more Hollywood films to come to Paris over the summer. John Wick: Chapter 4 is set to come out on May 27, 2022.
