- John Wick: Chapter 4 was released in theaters in March 2023.
- The film has been a huge hit at the box office.
- John Wick 5 has yet to be officially confirmed.
- Two John Wick spinoffs are in the works.
The John Wick franchise is kicking butt right now, thanks to John Wick: Chapter 4 which is being hailed as the best installment in the action series so far. The Keanu Reeves film has been praised by critics and grossed over $73 million in its opening weekend, a box office record for the franchise that debuted back in 2014. Fans are craving a fifth John Wick movie with Keanu returning as the iconic assassin, but that might not happening considering how the fourth film ended.
There’s still a chance that John Wick 5 could happen, especially since the franchise is continuing on with upcoming spinoffs. Here’s everything we know so far about John Wick 5.
Will There Be A ‘John Wick 5’?
John Wick 5 has yet to be officially announced. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Lionsgate was going to shoot the fourth and fifth movies back-to-back, but that never happened due to production delays. Still, director Chad Stahelski made it seem like a fifth film would happen in a 2022 interview with Collider. He said, “[As of right] now it is the studio’s [full] intention to continue the franchise. And look, I’m not going to– we’ve all seen directors and producers where they go, ‘Yes. I don’t know. I guess I’ll do five,’ or it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah.’ And I’m just, ‘Look, man. John Wick 1 was a goof. We made it as a fun little action movie that we’d like to see.’ And the fact that now nine years later, it’s changed our lives. It changed my life. It changed Keanu’s life. It’s changed a lot of other people’s lives. And people still want to see more.”
However, Chad was less optimistic about John Wick: Chapter 5 once he started doing press for the fourth film in March 2023. “In our minds, Keanu and I are done for the moment,” Chad said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, prior to the fourth film’s release. “We’re going to give John Wick a rest. I’m sure the studio has a plan. If everyone loves it and it goes kooky, then we’ll take a quiet minute. Wicks always, for some weird reason, always get the latest release date in Japan. It’s always like, three months later. If it’s the same this time, we’ll do a Japanese tour and release the movie in September. Keanu and I will take the long trip to Tokyo, we’ll sit in the Imperial Hotel Scotch Bar and go, ‘What do you think?’ We’ll have a couple 20-year-old whiskies and write some ideas on napkins. If those ideas stick, maybe we’ll make a movie,” he added.
After John Wick: Chapter 4 debuted to huge box office numbers, Lionsgate’s motion picture group president Joe Drake told Variety he’s hopeful for a fifth movie. “It’s more than tempting. I’m not going to give up hope there can’t be a ‘Wick 5’ “, he said. Joe also told Deadline, “We’re not ready to say goodbye to Keanu with this franchise. It’s what alternatives there will be.”
What Has Keanu Reeves Said About ‘John Wick 5’?
Back in January, Keanu Reeves said that the next potential sequel would depend on how successful John Wick: Chapter 4 is. “You have to see how the audience responds to what we did,” Keanu said to TotalFilm at the time. “The only reason we’ve had a chance to make these movies is that people have liked what we have done. So I think we have to wait and see how the audience responds to it. Hopefully they’ll like it.”
At the end of the fourth movie, John Wick is presumed dead, so obviously that complicates Keanu’s return for a possible fifth film. The famous actor addressed if he’ll do another sequel in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I don’t know, I guess I’m going to have to lean on ‘never say never,’” he said. “I mean, I wouldn’t do a ‘John Wick’ film without Chad Stahelski. We’d have to see what that looked like. For me, it feels really right that John Wick finds peace.”
How Did ‘John Wick 4’ End?
As mentioned before, John Wick is seemingly killed at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4. He participates in a sunrise duel where he and Marquis Vincet de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard) both shoot each other. John has a vision of his late wife Helen before he seemingly dies from his gunshot wounds. John’s body is buried next to Helen.
However, John’s fate is still up in the air even after his presumed death. Producer Basil Iwanyck described John Wick: Chapter 4 has having a “ambiguous ending,” hinting that John may not be dead. “I’ll put it that way. We don’t have this answer,” he told IndieWire. Basil also said, “There are two characters, really. There’s John Wick, and John, the civilian. The question for all of us is, okay, if the audience embraces the story and the box office works, is there another story to be told? I don’t know. But I don’t think we’ve boxed ourselves into any corner, whether he’s dead or alive, at the end of this movie.”
Basil further added, “Just on a personal level, we can’t break up the band yet. If the movie does really well, and people love it, and if there’s a germ of idea, we’ll entertain it. We’re so far away from that. I’m not saying there will be a sequel by any stretch, but if there is a world where we can find a story, we’ll explore that.”
‘John Wick’ Spinoffs
While John Wick 5 is still undetermined, there are two John Wick spinoffs that are coming out. The first is the limited series The Continental, starring Colin Woodell and Mel Gibson in the story of how Winston Scott became proprietor of the Continental hotel in the 1970s. The show is set to premiere in late 2023 on Peacock.
The John Wick spinoff is the upcoming film Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas as Rooney, the revengeful ballerina hunting the murders of her family. Rooney was played by Unity Phelan in John Wick 3. The story is set after the events of John Wick 3, but before the events of John Wick 4. And Keanu Reeves is appearing in the film as John Wick himself! Ballerina is set to be released in theaters in 2024.