Summary
- Lionsgate confirms that scripting began for John Wick 5 right as the WGA strike started, and it has now resumed following the strike’s conclusion.
- After The Continental, and in addition to Ballerina, an Ana de Armas spinoff movie, more John Wick spinoff projects are confirmed to be in development.
- Director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves have previously addressed their potential returns for John Wick 5, expressing that they’ll only do it if the story is worth telling.
John Wick 5 gets a reassuring new script update and more franchise spinoffs are confirmed to be in development. Following the explosive and ambiguous John Wick: Chapter 4 ending, the world of the assassin franchise was further expanded in the recent spinoff show, The Continental, with an additional Ana de Armas-led spinoff movie called Ballerina set to bow next year. While Lionsgate was quick to announce a fifth chapter in the Keanu Reeves saga, Reeves and director Chad Stahelski have offered more measured responses regarding their involvement in additional films.
Now, at a recent earnings call (via ComicBook.com), Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake provides a John Wick 5 update while also teasing further franchise expansion. A fifth film is seemingly now in the script stage following the end of the WGA strike, as are additional spinoff properties. Check out Drake’s full comment below:
“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.”
What’s Been Said About John Wick 5
Following the John Wick: Chapter 4 box office success, it came as no surprise when Lionsgate announced that a fifth film was in development. The problem, however, is that the end of the fourth installment sees Reeves’ assassin seemingly succumb to his wounds after his duel with Donnie Yen’s Caine. The John Wick: Chapter 4 ending keeps things ambiguous enough that a return by the character wouldn’t come totally out of left field, but comments from Stahelski and Reeves suggested that they intended the fourth film to serve as the end of the assassin’s story.
Now, about eight months removed from the release of the latest installment, which is now available to stream on STARZ, Stahelski has offered slightly different responses regarding John Wick 5. While Reeves has really been unable to comment all summer due to the SAG-AFTRA strike (which just recently came to an end), Stahelski has expressed an openness to return, but only if the story is right.
“We have ideas for days,” Stahelski recently told Inverse, “We just don’t have a story locked.” As for whether Reeves would return, Stahelski says that “Keanu would do one again in a second if we had a good story.” With the recent update from Drake, it seems like the studio is attempting to find the right story to bring the creative duo back for another adventure. While it remains to be seen whether John Wick 5 will actually happen, it’s clear that Lionsgate is keen to capitalize on the clear love of the hit franchise.
