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  • ‘John Wick: Chapter 5’ May Not Happen After All

    ‘John Wick: Chapter 5’ May Not Happen After All

    The following post contains SPOILERS for the end of John Wick: Chapter 4.

    The status of John Wick: Chapter 5 has had more ups and downs than John Wick himself after the High Table killed his dog. The movie was originally announced as being made back-to-back with John Wick: Chapter 4. But then they only made Chapter 4, and when it arrived it was one epic saga which (spoilers) culminated in the apparent death of John Wick. That would seemingly kill the chances of a John Wick: Chapter 5 ever happening, unless this fifth chapter is like an Andy Warhol-esque exercise that’s just one uninterrupted shot of John Wick’s grave for two and a half hours.

    There was just enough ambiguity in John Wick’s death that it left the door open a tiny crack to make a potential sequel. Since the release of John Wick: Chapter 4 we’ve gotten several different answers about whether that might happen. Director Chad Stahelski was initially adamant that the main franchise was over for now, with the series instead expanding into spinoffs like the upcoming Ballerina movie and The Continental TV series. But then the films’ distributor, Lionsgate, essentially announced that Chapter 5 was already in development. So… we’re thinking he’s back? Or… not? It’s all quite unclear.

    READ MORE: The John Wick: Chapter 4 Director’s Cut Is Over Three Hours Long

    So here’s the latest, from Stalheski (via Empire Magazine). To the question of whether Chapter 5 is happening or not, he replied “I honestly don’t know.” Then he added

    Lionsgate is keen on doing more John Wick stuff, understandably. It’s not a bad thing for a director to have a property that they want to make more of. I don’t have a take right now. But I could wake up tomorrow and have a cool idea that I’d pitch to Keanu, or he would pitch to me, and it might hit that chord of, ‘Oh my God, we got to do this right now.’

    Stahelski did say that he’s got ideas for action sequences bubbling in case they do decide to make a fifth film. But for now, at least from his perspective, it’s an if, not a when.

    In the meantime, the John Wick spinoff film Ballerina is scheduled to open in theaters on June 7, 2024.

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  • ‘John Wick 5’ Is In Development

    ‘John Wick 5’ Is In Development

    Last week, the John Wick saga reached an impressive milestone: $1 billion at the worldwide box office across the four films in the series. Not too shabby for a film franchise built from the ground up, and based on nothing beyond Keanu Reeves’ love of stunt work and dogs.

    Now if you’ve seen John Wick: Chapter 4, you know that its ending made it look like the franchise could conceivably end there. (No spoilers, but look, there’s only so many people a man can kill out of revenge for the death of his puppy.) But what did we just say? This franchise has made $1 billion — and the last one was the biggest to date, grossing $427 million worldwide. So we’re thinking this character’s back, no matter what the end of John Wick 4 said.

    So does Lionsgate. On the company’s recent quarterly earnings call, its Motion Picture Group chairman Joe Drake said the company is developing a John Wick: Chapter 5, along with multiple other John Wick spinoffs across film, television, and even video games.

    “We’re building out the world and when that fifth movie comes, [it] will be organic, will be organically grown out of how we’re starting to tell those stories. But you can rely on a regular cadence of John Wick.” said Drake.

    READ MORE: How John Wick: Chapter 4 Pulled Off That Stairwell Scene

    The first John Wick spinoff, Ballerina, has already been shot; starring Ana de Armas (and featuring John Wick regulars Reeves, Ian McShane, and Lance Reddick in supporting roles), the thriller is scheduled to open in theaters in June of 2024. And the first TV series, a prequel called The Continental, premieres on Peacock in September.

    John Wick: Chapter 4 suggested several potential spinoffs, most obviously one for Donnie Yen’s character, the blind assassin Caine. But the slam dunk idea to me is the John Wick video game. The whole premise seems perfect for games. You could do a story-heavy game featuring Reeves’ character. Or you could do some kind of online battle royale game set in the world of John Wick involving its quirky mythology of well-dressed assassins. Frankly it’s such an obvious money maker, it’s kind of shocking that hasn’t happened yet.

    John Wick: Chapter 4 is available on demand right now. The 4K and Blu-ray go on sale on June 13.

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  • Are They Making ‘John Wick 5’?

    Are They Making ‘John Wick 5’?

    The following post contains SPOILERS for John Wick: Chapter 4.

    When John Wick: Chapter 4 was officially announced back in the summer of 2020, it was announced with the next sequel, John Wick: Chapter 5, which was supposedly going to be shot back-to-back with part four.

    “We hope to shoot both John Wick 4 & 5 back to back when Keanu becomes available early next year,” said Lionsgate CEO John Feltheimer at the time.

    But now John Wick: Chapter 4 is here (Covid-19 delayed things somewhat) and not only is Chapter 5 was not shot with it, if you’ve seen Chapter 4 you know another sequel is, at best, a long shot. That’s because — here is your last chance to bail before spoilers — John Wick: Chapter 4 concludes with John Wick’s death. The film’s final scene is a funeral where Ian McShane’s Winston, Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, and John Wick’s dog all mourn at his grave side.

    So what happened to the plans for two back-to-back sequels? Franchise director Chad Stahelski recently explained the change in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “The real reason we didn’t do four and five together was because I raised my hand,” Stahelski revealed. “I even went to Keanu and said, ‘I’m just not good enough to do four and five. I’m good enough to do one. I can make a difference between three and four, but I’m not good enough to somehow magically get better in the middle of the process between four and five.’ The reason these movies keep getting better is because we keep getting better, but I need the time to go to school and get better. So that’s the real reason why we divided it up at the time. I’m not a good enough director to deliver two uniquely special experiences.”

    READ MORE: How John Wick: Chapter 4 Pulled Off Its Greatest Action Sequence

    Stahelski says as he and the John Wick creative team were developing the fourth movie, they realized one way they could make it different and better than the previous films was to give it a conclusion — i.e., the title character’s heroic death. At first, Lionsgate’s response to that idea was, in Stahelski’s words, “Are you f—ing insane?” Eventually, they warmed to giving John Wick a proper sendoff.

    But if you’ve seen the film, you know that we see John Wick’s funeral, not necessarily his death. It’s not totally implausible that the character might have faked his demise to finally get some peace and quiet. Stahelski also told THR that they did shoot a version that even more strongly hinted at John’s survival, but that a test audience “revolted pretty hard about [it].” So the filmmakers stuck with the more “mysterious” version that you see onscreen — which still includes a shot of John’s dog looking up at one point to place just the tiniest bit of doubt about John’s fate in the audience’s mind.

    Whether they ever make a John Wick: Chapter 5 or not, the franchise will continue. Keanu Reeves has already filmed a cameo role in Ballerina, a spinoff that expands on a subplot from John Wick: Chapter 3 about ballerinas who moonlight as assassins. That movie, which stars Ana de Armas, doesn’t have an official release date yet, but it was mostly shot in the fall of last year, so it will likely premiere later in 2023 or in early 2024.

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