Yeah… we’re thinking he’s back. Even if he hasn’t really left.
You guessed it: Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment have officially issued the green light on John Wick: Chapter 4. Its ETA? May 21st, 2021, though no further details were released at the time of going to press.
What we do know, however, is that director and series veteran Chad Stahelski is keen to continue working in Lionsgate’s seedy underworld of high-stakes action and trained killers for as long as audiences will let him. Translation: so long as the John Wick movies continue to make a killing at the box office – pun very much intended – Lionsgate and Stahelski will happily churn out more stories in the Wick saga.
“I enjoy making these movies because there’s no limit,” said the director. “We create our own mythology, and we have a studio that both stays out of our way and supports us on the wacky decisions. If people go see the movie, and it makes money, and they came back to us, Keanu and I have ideas for days. I could live here for the rest of my career. If people like it and want to watch more, I could think of way worse ways to spend your career. But, you know, we’re in the entertainment business. We’ll let the audience figure that out.”
Ditto for Keanu Reeves, who assured fans that he’ll be playing John Wick (real name: [SPOILERS]) for many more years to come. This is a relatively quick turn-around for Lionsgate, too; barely 24 months to engineer another blistering installment in the cult franchise.
Then again, ever since Reeves and Co. began talking to press during the promotion of Parabellum, it soon became clear that everyone involved had been quietly preparing for the inevitable announcement of John Wick: Chapter 4. And here we are, with a primetime May 2021 release date on the cards and the promise of more Wick-fuelled action. Better sharpen those pencils…