Keanu Reeves was almost written off from Hollywood when he made a comeback as the ruthless assassin avenging his dog in John Wick in 2014. Since then, Reeves has returned to three more movies in the franchise, with his last appearance being in John Wick: Chapter 4 in 2023. The Matrix actor’s whopping eight-figure salary for the latest John Wick movie was recently revealed, but he could have potentially earned more for the role.
At the peak of his career, the Knock Knock actor set the record for the highest payday for an actor. This record has remained unbeaten for nearly two decades, and even Reeves himself may not be able to surpass this record again.
Keanu Reeves’ John Wick 4 Salary Is Unsurprisingly Massive
While speculations about Keanu Reeves‘s return to a planned fifth John Wick movie circulate on the internet, his salary for the fourth film has been revealed. According to Just Jared, Reeves was paid a base salary of $15 million for John Wick: Chapter 4. Interestingly, there’s more to his paycheck than the base salary, as The Devil’s Advocate actor has an ownership stake in the franchise.
This stake means that Reeves could earn a substantial return from the profits of the film. The fourth film was a box office success, grossing a whopping $440.1 million against a $100 million budget. Reeves’s salary for the John Wick films has seen significant growth from the mere $1-2 million he received for the first film. THR reported his salary for the sequel, John Wick: Chapter 2, was $2-2.5 million.
While the salary for his third film, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, remains undisclosed, it is speculated that the pay was considerably higher than the second film due to the success of the franchise. The difference in Keanu Reeves’s salary for the first and last John Wick films is also reflected in the scale of the films. While the fourth film touched a 9-figure budget, the 2014 film was a low-budget action flick costing $20 million.
Reeves has approximately made $22 million from the franchise so far and is expected to earn more if he appears in more projects. He is already set to appear in the Ana de Armas film, Ballerina, set in the same universe. While Lionsgate has confirmed a fifth movie, whether the 47 Ronin actor will appear in the film is still a big question mark.
Besides John Wick, The Matrix Movies Also Contribute To Keanu Reeves’s Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Keanu Reeves boasts an estimated net worth of $380 million. While his John Wick movies are the biggest contributors to his net worth recently, his whopping salary for The Matrix surely helped him amass such a fortune. According to Giant Freakin Robot, the Speed actor’s upfront salary for the original film, The Matrix, was $10 million. However, he also received an additional $35 million in incentives upon the film’s release.
Reeves donated almost 70% of this salary to the research for leukemia, as his younger sister was suffering from the disease at that time. Men’s Health reported that the combined salary for the first three Matrix films, including The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, amounted to $250 million. While it is unclear how much he earned for each of the second and third films, the calculations show that he earned more than $200 million for the simultaneously shot films.
According to Variety, Reeves made only $12-14 million on his fourth film, The Matrix Resurrections, owing to its streaming release on Max. Other films in The Matrix series are also available for streaming on Max. John Wick films are now available for streaming on Netflix.
