The intense action scenes, compelling narrative, and, of course, Keanu Reeves’ stellar performance have all worked to captivate audiences of the John Wick franchise since its debut in 2014. Every movie in the franchise has been able to outperform the last, building great anticipation for the next one. Although Reeves’ character, John Wick, apparently died in John Wick: Chapter 4, a studio executive has now confirmed that Lionsgate is moving forward with a script for a fifth installment.
It seems that Lionsgate is determined to capitalize on the success of John Wick, and part of their plans entails expanding and intensifying the franchise universe surrounding the titular character. Despite Lionsgate’s quick announcement of a fifth chapter, director Chad Stahelski has also responded more carefully when asked about his and Reeves’ involvement in additional films.
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John Wick 5 and More Spinoffs Are In Development?
Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake teased more franchise expansion while giving an update on John Wick 5 during a recent earnings call (via ComicBook.com). A fifth film appeared to be in the script stage following the end of the WGA strike, along with other spinoff projects. Here’s the complete statement from Drake:
“On the Wick side, we got multiple spin-offs and a Wick Five. We started to work on (it) right when the writer’s strike started and we’ve gotten back to work as soon as it ended.”
Chad Stahelski has also responded to questions about John Wick 5 in somewhat different ways. The John Wick director has stated that he would be willing to return, but only if the story works. He told Inverse last month:
“We have ideas for days. We just don’t have a story locked.”
Regarding Keanu Reeves‘ potential comeback, Stahelski claimed that
“Keanu would do one again in a second if we had a good story.”
John Wick Director Hints At Upcoming Anime And TV Shows
During an appearance on The Playlist’s The Discourse podcast, John Wick director Chad Stahelski talked about his and Lionsgate’s future plans for the action franchise, which include a new TV show and an anime. He revealed that the TV show will “explore The High Table,” but will also be “completely separate” from Peacock’s The Continental: From the World of John Wick miniseries.
Stahelski hinted at the prospect of delving into characters other than John Wick and Winston Scott (Ian McShane), who appeared in John Wick: Chapter 4:
“Yeah, I love Donnie [Yen], I love Rina [Sawayama], love the Tracker (Shamier Anderson), and the TV show and the ancillaries will give us a chance to expand the kind of fun world we’ve created.”
The American stuntman and film director, 55, believed that television was a better format for this, adding:
“I think TV is a better format for that, I think because people can jump into the backgrounds, you don’t have to spend so much time with the first act set up and all that.”
Regarding the anime series, Stahelski praised the advantages of delving into John Wick’s universe via this platform, highlighting
“To create all the cool stories that anime could achieve better than we could and the TV show to expand our world, we’ll still get our fix, you know what I mean? And we’ll still have all the fun.”
The studio appears to have reunited the cast and team for a new venture, based on the most recent update from Joe Drake and Stahelski.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick, which was released on Peacock earlier this year, was the first example of a spinoff in this universe. Ballerina, another spinoff prequel story, will reportedly star Keanu Reeves as John Wick. The film is set to be released on June 7, 2024.
Stream The Continental: From the World of John Wick as well as the John Wick films on Peacock.
