Despite John Wick, presumably, dying in ‘Chapter 4’, sequel-hungry movie fans have been clamouring hard for a fifth John Wick movie.
The R-rated, nearly 3-hour, “John Wick: Chapter 4” earned almost $200M domestically, and nearly half a billion dollars worldwide. In current-day Hollywood, a mid-budget franchise ending with those types of numbers is almost unheard of.
‘Wick’ star Keanu Reeves is now pouring some cold water on the possibility of a film fifth happening, or at least, for now. I don’t believe him. When asked about the fifth film, Reeves quite simply doesn’t want to hear about it:
You know, the character's dead. He died in 'John Wick: Chapter 4.' "I know, in Hollywood you can [revive dead characters]. I know, I know, it's the Hollywood story. Right now, there aren’t [any plans].
Right after ‘Chapter 4’ was released, you had director Chad Stahelski (via Happy Sad Confused) practically closing the books on more ‘Wick’ films by saying there would have to be a "real reason" to bring Wick back. Stahelski added that he didn’t want to insult the audience’s intelligence and that he "would feel ripped off" as an audience member if they made another sequel.
However, a month later, Lionsgate President, Joe Drake, confirmed that a fifth ‘John Wick’ was “in development.” Go figure.
In October 2023, Stahelski changed his tune — he confirmed he already had ideas written down for five more John Wick sequels! Yes, chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. How many more kills can Wick commit? How much further can you stretch this franchise out? Quite a bit, it turns out.
November 2023, we got official word from the Lionsgate boss that the script for “John Wick: Chapter 5” was being written. They started right after the WGA strike ended, not wasting any time. So, despite Reeves’ insistence that there might not be another ‘John Wick 5,’ money talks and in a Hollywood obsessed with IP, it’d be very surprising to not get another instalment in the next five years.
The character of John Wick has essentially turned into a supernatural being that can repeatedly get shot, stabbed, mauled, buried, and still survive. There have been numerous moments, throughout the series, where Wick should have died, but miraculously he got back up and continued on. Wick’s kill count in the series currently stands at 439 victims.