Lionsgate Gambles Everything on Keanu Reeves, Confirms John Wick 5 Will Never Happen Without Actor
John Wick, a Derek Kolstad-created neo-noir action thriller media franchise starring actor Keanu Reeves, centers on the title character who had previously left the criminal underworld but finds himself pulled back into it. The franchise started with the 2014 release of John Wick, which was well-received by both the public and critics.
According to reports, the franchise’s first four films have taken in more than $1 billion globally, and plans call for a fifth film and two spin-offs. Since its March release, John Wick 4 has amassed nearly $430 million at the global box office, making it one of the greatest R-rated films since 2023. Current information on John Wick 5 has got the fans excited about yet another Keanu Reeves blockbuster movie. So, let’s find out more.
John Wick franchise is not ready to say goodbye to Keanu Reeves
According to reports from Deadline, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group has retained the actor Keanu Reeves for a potential fifth installment of the movie. Joe Drake, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair said back in March,
“We’re not ready to say goodbye to Keanu with this franchise. It’s what alternative there will be. There’s a lot of different things that we can do.”
He further noted, “John Wick is not a superhero. He’s a man who has lost the only thing that he loved at the beginning of this franchise; everything he did after that has motivated his actions. (He’s) a man in search of peace. There’s a chance that John Wick could find peace.”
Keanu Reeves, who has already confirmed that he will be reprising his role for the spin-off series The Ballerina which stars actress Ana de Armas and is being directed by Len Wiseman. The director of John Wick, Chad Stahelski, has also mentioned that as he appeared on Happy Sad Confused Podcast that if someone asked Keanu Reeves to do John Wick 5, he’d be thrilled to do that.
“These movies are really hard for Keanu and Chad”: Basil Iwanyk
Basil Iwanyk, who is the executive producer of another spin-off television miniseries, The Continental: From the World of John Wick, which is going to serve as the prequel of John Wick, shared with Deadline, back in May;
“Once they (Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves) get through their hangovers, if Keanu and Chad have figured out something cool, if they’ve an organic way back in that doesn’t feel like bulls**t, then there will be a John Wick 5.”
He continued that the movies are hard for the director Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves and everybody who is involved and by the time each one is over, most of, them who are involved usually end up saying never again, since no one is getting any younger.
Iwanyk lastly added, “Then time goes by, you see it embraced by fans, and after working together every year for 11 years, it’s become a family and in some demented way, and we miss each other. But I totally defer to Chad and Keanu to figure out what and if that story is.”
Chad Stahelski is not sure how John Wick 5 will come together just yet
In a conversation with The Direct, the director mentioned when asked if there is John Wick 5 in the books, especially after the massive success of John Wick: Chapter 4, he said,
“Look, I mean, this in a good way. It’s a business. When you have something successful, yeah, of course, you want to keep doing it. But it’s very easy to be repetitive. The trick is how you be repetitive with individuality. How do you put your authorship or your agency into something that’s obviously been done three times before?”
The director noted that he feels incredibly honored and overwhelmed to witness that the audience has loved and appreciated what they have been doing since 2014 and added,
“That’s incredibly flattering. You have to be incredibly humble and go, ‘Thank you.’ And that’s our response, ‘Thank you so much. Thank you so much for offering. Thank you so much for wanting it. Thank you so much for everything.’”
John Wick: Chapter 4 will be available to stream on Starz starting on Friday, September 15 before joining the other John Wick movies on Peacock in some time.
Source: CBR
