Lionsgate boss Jenefer Brown has again confirmed that John Wick 5 is “being worked on”, though Keanu Reeves’ return is still uncertain.
Franchise star Keanu Reeves may have recently downplayed the likelihood of his return, but with the movies worth billions to its studio, Lionsgate, it’s keen to keep John Wick going in some form. With the action spin-off Ballerina due out this year after several delays, a Lionsgate exec has again confirmed that a full sequel – we’ll call it John Wick 5 for now – is in development.
Jenefer Brown, an executive with a long and fancy title at Lionsgate, was at a preview event for something called the John Wick Experience in Las Vegas. According to Comic Book, she had a few words to say about the future of the franchise.
“This world continues to grow and expand in incredible ways,” Brown said. “Up next, of course, we have Ballerina, which is our first spin-off movie and [we] can’t wait for that to release to the world. Of course, we’ve announced we’re working on a fifth John Wick film. I think there are more spinoffs to come, a TV series, video game.”
Without spoiling things, the ending of John Wick 4 left the movie series in a rather uncertain place, which Brown glancingly referred to in her comments. All the same, she added that, “We are all on baited breath waiting to find out” how the story will continue.
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From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina is a prequel to the existing movies, with Ana De Armas as the graceful assassin in the lead and Keanu Reeves returning in a supporting role. Earlier this month, Reeves appeared to rule out returning to play John Wick again, though, saying that “Right now, there isn’t [any plan].”
Putting it all together, it sounds as though a fifth John Wick is still a way off. At one stage, there was talk of shooting John Wick 4 and 5 back to back; then it was thought that the fifth film could be shooting at some point in 2025. Judging by Brown’s comments, the sequel is still in the early writing stages, and its plot and title will inevitably hinge on whether Reeves can be coaxed back yet again.
Whether Reeves returns or not, the John Wick franchise is simply too valuable to Lionsgate to be left on the shelf. We’ll bring you more as we hear it.
