The series that no one likely thought would turn into such a massive hit and big cash cow for Lionsgate is going for broke. On an investor’s earnings call today studio’s CEO John Feltheimer revealed that a fifth “John Wick” film is happening and will likely shoot back to back with the fourth installment, pending the availability of its franchise star Keanu Reeves. “We’re also busy preparing scripts for the next two installments of our John Wick action franchise, with ‘John Wick 4’ slated to hit theatres Memorial Day weekend 2022. We hope to shoot both John Wick 4 & 5 back to back when Keanu becomes available early next year.”
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“John Wick 4,” is currently scheduled for May 27, Memorial Day weekend in 2022. The film was originally scheduled for a 2021 release, but the pandemic pushed the endeavor back.
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Three “John Wick” movies have grossed $584.2 million worldwide which sounds small compared to some franchise, but Lionsgate’s ‘Wick’ is generally a fraction of the budget of most of the big superhero films. John Wick is such a big hit for the company they have created the spin-off TV series “The Continental” which is hoping to premiere sometime following the fourth movie on Starz.
Chad Stahelski is once again scheduled to direct “John Wick: Chapter 4,” and given the news, presumably “John Wick 5” as well. The 51-year-old filmmaker was a stunt coordinator and second unit director for most of his career, working with Keanu Reeves on “The Matrix” movies. It was at Reeves’ urging and vouching that he and then partner David Leitch make the move to feature-film and direct the original “John Wick.” Leitch didn’t receive official credit on the original franchise film and then departed the series for other pasture, but still doing very well as the director of “Atomic Blonde” and “Deadpool 2.”
Given the popularity and speed of which the franchise films are made, Stahelski has only been able to direct “John Wick” films thus far, but is also known for having directed some crucial second-unit action sequences on “Captain America: Civil War” and “Birds Of Prey.” Given the uncertain state of the world and the way film schedules have been deeply affected, it’s possible we may see back to back shooting on sequels becoming a trend so studios can rush more product into theaters and make up for some of the losses they’ve endured during the pandemic. [Deadline]
