For the better part of the past decade, the John Wick franchise has cranked out four of the best action movies of all time that continued to up the ante for Keanu Reeves’ titular character finding unique ways to add to his kill count. Over the years, John Wick has gone from a retired widower to being thrown back into a life of secret societies and heart-pounding action sequences, cheating death time and time again along the way. With the John Wick: Chapter 4 ending seemingly putting an end to Baba Yaga’s story, many are left wondering if this is the last we’ll see of the badass character.
So, where does the franchise stand, and what do prominent figures like Reeves, director Chad Stahelski, and Lionsgate’s top brass have to say about the possibility of a John Wick 5? Well, we’re about to break down what has been said about the movie that may or may not come to fruition.
Initially, Lionsgate's CEO Said There Were Plans To Shoot The Fourth And Fifth John Wick Movies Back-To-Back
Though John Wick 5 isn’t guaranteed right now, there was one point in time when the movie was not only going to happen, it was going to be shot back-to-back with John Wick: Chapter 4.
Back in August 2020, Lionsgate CEO John Feltheimer explained during an earning’s call (via Deadline) that the studio was in the early stages of planning the fourth and fifth installments in the franchise, a little more than a year after the third movie became the king of the 2019 summer blockbuster season. During the call, Feltheimer provided an update on the status of both in-the-works projects, saying:
We’re also busy preparing scripts for the next two installments of our John Wick action franchise, with John Wick 4 slated to hit theatres Memorial Day weekend 2022. We hope to shoot both John Wick 4 & 5 back to back when Keanu becomes available early next year.
Obviously, the initial plan to shoot the both movies back-to-back never panned out, and fans were left wondering if John Wick 5 would actually be happening or not. The future of the project would only get more uncertain from there, especially ahead of the fourth movie's release, which itself was delayed multiple times before everything was said and done.
Keanu Reeves Sounded Uncertain When Discussing The Future Prior To John Wick: Chapter 4’s Release
In the months leading up to the March 2023 release of John Wick: Chapter 4, the next steps for the mainline franchise didn’t become any clearer, as director Chad Stahelski said it was Lionsgate’s intention to continue past the fourth installment while he stood on the fence. The uncertainty reached higher levels in January 2023 when Keanu Reeves told Total Film (via GamesRadar) that a fifth movie really depended on how the audience responded to Chapter 4, saying:
You have to see how the audience responds to what we did. The only reason we’ve had a chance to make these movies is that people have liked what we have done. So I think we have to wait and see how the audience responds to it. Hopefully they’ll like it.
The movie ended up being a massive success, both in terms of critical response –it had a near-perfect score in Cinemablend’s John Wick: Chapter 4 review – and box office returns, breaking franchise records in the process, despite being nearly three hours in length. But as Stahelski would say around the release, John Wick 5 was anything but guaranteed.
Chad Stahelski Said He Was ‘Done For The Moment’ In March 2023
In March 2023, just days before the John Wick: Chapter 4 premiere, director Chad Stahelski sat down for an extensive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where he touched on the franchise’s future, saying he was “done for the moment,” but had not made a final decision:
In our minds, Keanu and I are done for the moment. We’re going to give John Wick a rest. I’m sure the studio has a plan. If everyone loves it and it goes kooky, then we’ll take a quiet minute. Wicks always, for some weird reason, always get the latest release date in Japan. It’s always like, three months later. If it’s the same this time, we’ll do a Japanese tour and release the movie in September. Keanu and I will take the long trip to Tokyo, we’ll sit in the Imperial Hotel Scotch Bar and go, ‘What do you think?’ We’ll have a couple 20-year-old whiskies and write some ideas on napkins. If those ideas stick, maybe we’ll make a movie.
Stahelski stopped short of providing a definite answer about the franchise’s future, but it sounds like we could hypothetically know more about a potential John Wick: Chapter 5 at some point in the future.
Chad Stahelski Isn’t Opposed To The Idea Of A John Wick 5, He Just Doesn’t Want Audiences Feeling ‘Ripped Off’
Chad Stahelski knows that audiences want to see more of the franchise with John Wick: Chapter 5, but the stuntman-turned-director has gone on the record to state that while he isn’t opposed to the idea of making a fifth installment, he doesn’t want the audience to “be treated like they’re idiots.” During an August 2023 appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, he explained that there has to be a “real reason” to bring John wick back from the dead:
I don’t think there’s any reason to bring John Wick back without a real reason. Like, the reason’s gotta, you know, not get you off the hook, it’s gotta draw people back in. Because I think most of the audience would love to see Keanu [Reeves] back, they just don’t want to be treated like they’re idiots. They don’t want to be treated like ‘Hey, give me your 14 bucks and we’ll bring back the guy, and he’ll shoot more people in the head.’ I’m part of the audience and I would feel ripped off if I did something like that. … None of us are opposed to doing [John Wick: Chapter 5], we just don’t know how to do it. We’re not that smart.
This isn’t the first time Stahelski has touched on this topic, and it probably won’t be the last either. In the past, the director has opened up about continuing the franchise and what that would mean for the story and its characters. Though we’d all like to see John Wick: Chapter 5, making it make sense and not feeling cheap is paramount.
Lionsgate Chief Joe Drake Has Said John Wick 5 Is In Development, But The ‘Story Isn’t There Yet’
With John Wick: Chapter 4 being both a critical and financial success story upon its release, it seemed like a no-brainer that another installment to the franchise would be a foregone conclusion. However, with Keanu Reeves’ character seemingly dying at the end of the film, it’s going to take a lot of care and consideration to properly tell the story. When speaking with IGN in June 2023, Lionsgate President Joe Drake explained that the story just isn’t there yet:
John Wick 4 was embraced enough by the critics and the audience that it’s kind of an organic and natural next step to do John Wick 5. I think that there’s no question that it’s in development, but right now the story isn’t there yet. And until the story is there, it isn’t… It’s real on something we’re trying to figure out. But we haven’t settled on what that movie looks like or feels like.
Drake had previously alluded to Lionsgate being open to the idea of the franchise continuing when speaking with The Hollywood Reporter earlier in the year, stating that they were going to “scratch at ideas” after taking a small break. It appears that break has sense ended, though we don’t yet know what will come of this.
As for now, we’ll have to wait and see what happens with John Wick 5. In the meantime, though, there is still the Ballerina spinoff, the upcoming Continental TV show, and all sorts of major releases on the 2023 movie schedule to keep us busy while we wait for more information.
