Despite the very firm ending of John Wick: Chapter 4, wherein Keanu Reeves’ title assassin was dead and buried, Lionsgate quickly announced that a John Wick 5 was in the works. This came as a surprise to John Wick fans, though the idea of another movie in the franchise remains appealing (despite the firm conclusion). Speaking today during Lionsgate’s quarterly earnings call, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake confirmed that work on writing John Wick: Chapter 5 has resumed following the conclusion of the writers’ strike. In addition to John Wick: Chapter 5 though, Drake also confirmed that more spinoffs in the franchise are being developed.
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“On the Wick side we got multiple spin-offs and Wick Five,” Joe Drake revealed. “We started to work on (it) right when the writer’s strike started and we’ve gotten back to work as soon as it ended.” Drake’s casual reference to John Wick: Chapter 5 and other spinoffs came when while discussing Lionsgate’s upcoming film slate. In addition to new John Wick movies, Drake confirmed that John Wick co-creator Chad Stahelski’s upcoming Highlander reboot is being worked on and targeting a 2026 release date.
Drake’s confirmation of more John Wick spinoffs comes on the heels of the television series, The Continental: From the World of John Wick, but also the upcoming release of Ballerina, a new film that will feature Keanu Reeves reprising his role but stars Ana de Armas as a new assassin. Considering Drake is the one speaking about the plans for more John Wick movies however, it seems likely he’s referring more feature films, but what those might be remains to be seen.
John Wick fans remain skepticle about the potential for a John Wick: Chapter 5 considering how the fourth film ended, but that hasn’t stopped the creatives behind the movies from still thinking about what could come next. In a previous interview with Inverse, Chad Stahelski teased that he has “notebooks and notebooks” filled with ideas for the franchise, ideas that could propel the series from John Wick 5 all the way to John Wick 9.
“We have ideas for days,” Stahelski said. “We just don’t have the story locked. I have no interest in doing the cash grab of bringing John Wick back for something. Is he a character I like? Of course. And if I did a couple of John Wick movies, great. Keanu would do one again in a second if we had a good story. We leave that open-ended. I know that the studio would love us to say we have another one.”
Despite a concrete ending in John Wick: Chapter 4 that appeared to confirm Keanu Reeves’ character had died, a version of the conclusion was filmed and even shown to test audiences that confirmed the opposite. Speaking with Collider, Stahelski revealed that he shot the ending two different ways, one that teased Wick was still alive and the version seen in the movie, and the test audiences preferred the version that left his fate a little more ambiguous, rejecting the one with Wick still shown alive.
