John Wick Set to Re-Release on Theatres Again for 10th Anniversary as Fans Still Conflicted About Another Sequel
- 2014's John Wick returns to cinemas for 10th anniversary.
- John Wick has evolved into one of the most successful action movie franchise.
- Concerns about fifth instalment of the movie lingers on.
John Wick is regarded as one of the most successful action-thriller neo-noir franchises, which stars Keanu Reeves as the titular character. Directed by Chad Stahelski, 2014’s John Wick follows the story of a legendary hitman coming out of retirement to seek revenge against men who killed his dog. The dog was a final gift from his wife, who has recently passed away.
Upon release, the movie received positive comments for its style and action sequences. The critics and the audience appreciated the use of mythology of a criminal underworld with rituals and rules in John Wick. Following the success of John Wick, it was followed by three sequels: John Wick: Chapter 2, John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum, and John Wick: Chapter 4. It has been regarded as one of the best action movies made, and the first movie returns to theaters.
Keanu Reeves’ John Wick returns to cinemas to mark his 10th anniversary
Actor Keanu Reeves starrer John Wick will celebrate its 10th anniversary on October 24, and to celebrate this memorable occasion, the makers have decided to re-release the movie for two nights. The movie will be available on November 3rd and 6th, with the audience getting a special look at John Wick’s spin-off series Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas.
A new poster along with the trailer of the movie of the original movie was recently released to celebrate a major milestone. The filmmaker Chad Stahelski had previously appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, where he recalled the initial reaction to the movie.
Keanu, myself, and Dave snuck in. We did the midnight show. Right after the first action sequence, which is late in the movie. It’s an odd movie. There is no action for 40 minutes, and then the crowd went mental, and we’re like, ‘Is everybody stoned?’ We didn’t know what was going on. We had never had that kind of reaction, and that was the first time we knew that we had done something cool that I’d want to go see.
Upon release, John Wick performed exceptionally well at the box office, as CBR reports that at a budget of $30 million, the movie grossed about $86 million worldwide. It placed the actor back under the spotlight as an action star. The first installment of John Wick is viewed as one of the most enticing action movies ever. Ahead of the release of the fourth chapter writer Derek Kolstad shared with ComicBook the reason behind the movie being titled as ‘John Wick’. He added,
The only reason it’s called John Wick is that Keanu kept referring to it as John Wick. Marketing was like, ‘Dude, that’s four to five million dollars in free advertising so far, so it’s John Wick instead of Scorn.
Not only the fans, but Reeves equally loves playing the character on-screen. He shared in 2019 with Uproxx that he loves Wick movies adding that he likes the suffering of John Wick and coming back and surviving. He described that he finds pleasure in knowing that there are so many people collaborating on the project.
Henry Cavill starrer Highlander reboot takes priority over Keanu Reeves’ John Wick Chapter 5
According to reports by Collider, the fifth instalment will not likely begin in 2025 as Chad Stahelski will be working on the Highlander reboot, and the filming for it will start next year in Scotland. Lionsgate had confirmed that Stahelski will return to direct the fifth installment of John Wick, but it seems like his ongoing commitments have taken priority.
Fans have been waiting for Reeves and Stahelski to reunite for another blockbuster movie, but their reunion has to wait for a while. However, Ana de Armas’ upcoming movie John Wick Presents: Ballerina is something that fans can look forward to as it’s going to feature Ian McShane as Winston Scott. The film takes place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum.
Reeves revealed in a 2023 interview with EW that he is going to appear in Ballerina, adding,
Yeah, I got to work with Ana de Armas and the director Len Wiseman, and they had a great script, and John Wick has a small part to play in it. Len Wiseman was so cool. He was like, ‘Where do you want to pitch this story in the timeline?’ So, it takes place between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. It was fun to put the suit back on.
Upon discussing the future of Chapter 5, CBR mentioned that Reeves and Stahelski would meet at the Imperium Hotel in Japan and drink together until they could figure out what the story for their next project was going to be. In the end, for Reeves, everything comes down to having the right story for the project.
The director had shared that they were done after Chapter 3. And then again, it was a year later, Reeves and he felt like they kind of let everybody down with the ending of number 3 so they worked on Chapter 4.
Producer Basil Iwanykhas shared that these movies are really hard for Keanu Chad and everyone involved. He explained that by the time they are done, everyone who has been involved would say ‘never again’, adding that they are not getting any younger and it’s just hard. (via Deadline) But it’s the love of fans and Reeves and Stahelski towards the character that they push themselves to make another one.
John Wick movies are available to stream on Lionsgate.
