Yahoo Autos ‘John Wick 5’ Back on the Table After Box Office Blowup
[The following story contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4.]
Yeah, Lionsgate is thinking John Wick is back.
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John Wick: Chapter 4 had widely been expected to be the final installment in the main action franchise, but a fifth film is back on the table after the latest movie’s astonishing opening at the global box office, according to Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Joe Drake.
Directed by Chad Stahelski and returning Keanu Reeves in the titular role as the iconic assassin, the unstoppable action pic served up a huge $73.8 million domestically after pristine reviews and an A CinemaScore from audiences. The results were just as impressive overseas, where the movie debuted to a resounding $67.6 million from 71 markets for a global start of $141.4 million, a series record on all fronts.
Making a fifth installment of John Wick is no small challenge considering that Reeves’ character seemingly meets his demise at the end of Chapter 4. But on Sunday, Lionsgate’s Drake told The Hollywood Reporter that a John Wick 5 is no longer out of the question.
“There’s a will and there’s an openness. And you could certainly interpret that ending in different ways,” said Drake. “We’re all going to take a tiny rest here and then scratch at ideas about whether there’s a credible way to get into five. But there’s no guarantee.”
It’s a potential about-face for the creative team, as Stahelski has stated he and Reeves were fairly certain this was the end. The director had previously considered making the fourth and fifth films back to back, but the idea was scrapped once the ending of Chapter 4 was decided upon.
Drake noted, “Keanu and Chad, rightly so, are very protective about never screwing with the audience. So we certainly have our work cut out for us. … Keanu is so beloved and that character is so beloved; that’s not lost on him.”
Nor is it lost on Reeves that John Wick 4 is the second-best domestic opening of his live-action career behind The Matrix Reloaded, which started off with $91.8 domestically two decades ago in 2003. (On the animated side, Reeves was part of the voice cast of Pixar’s Toy Story 4, which scared up $121 million domestically on its first weekend in 2019.)
Regardless of John Wick 5′s fate, Reeves will return to the character in the future, albeit not necessarily in the lead role. He shows up in Ballerina, the series’ first spinoff, which stars Ana de Armas as another determined assassin. Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston and the late Lance Reddick also star in the film, which is expected to hit theaters next year and takes place between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4. The film is directed by Len Wiseman.
