John Wick 5 Announced, to Film Back-to-Back With John Wick 4

John Wick 5 is a go. We've yet to even lay our eyes on John Wick 4 but during its quarterly earnings call, Lionsgate CEO John Feltheimer announced a fifth chapter of the Keanu Reeves-led action franchise. John Wick 4 and John Wick 5 will be filmed back-to-back starting early 2021, Feltheimer added. For now, the two as-yet untitled John Wick entries are in the writing stage, though no writers have been announced. Director Chad Stahelski, who's been involved on all three previous John Wick movies, is confirmed to be part of John Wick 4 and will likely be part of John Wick 5 as well.

It makes sense that Lionsgate would want more of John Wick, given the increasing financial returns delivered by the franchise. In 2014, the original John Wick made $88.7 million (about Rs. 665 crores) off an estimated budget of $20–30 million (about Rs. 150–225 crores). Its 2017 sequel John Wick: Chapter 2 brought in $171.5 million (about Rs. 1,286 crores) off a $40 million (about Rs. 300 crores) budget. And the most recent entry, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, grossed $326.7 million (about Rs. 2,450 crores) with a budget reported at $55–75 million (about Rs. 412–562 crores).

The series has been a hit with critics too. On reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the three chapters hold a “certified fresh” rating of 87, 89, and 89 percent, respectively.

Reeves, who is currently busy with The Matrix 4, isn't the only one doing back-to-back shoots for big-budget action films. Tom Cruise is doing the same thing with Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8, with the former set to resume production soon after delays caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

John Wick 4 — announced in May last year — is set to release May 27, 2022 in cinemas worldwide. John Wick 5 is expected to release in 2023.

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