John Wick 5 May Be Less of a Sure Thing Than Fans Thought (& That Might Be a Good Thing)

Though John Wick 5 is in development, director Chad Stahelski has indicated the film might not happen if he can’t figure out the right story to tell. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker discussed the potential future of the hit action franchise. Though he’s currently working on a script with writer Mike Finch, Stahelski admitted the ending of John Wick: Chapter 4 presents a hurdle that’ll be difficult to clear. His goal is to tell a narrative that’s satisfying, but if he isn’t able to do that, Stahelski could scrap John Wick 5 altogether and use some of his ideas for an entirely different project.

“I’m not going to lie to you, it’s a bit of a conundrum. Me and Mike Finch — the writer on 4 who’s also writing 5 — we’ve got a pretty good story that I think is cool,” Stahelski said. “Once we have a 50-page book, and if we’re feeling it, we’ll sit with Keanu and shape this thing. Look, everybody seems to want it. It’s a matter of whether we crack it. We’re actively working on it. It’s just … is it going to be satisfying?”

Stahelski then implied John Wick 5 isn’t a guarantee. “If we go down the road of John Wick 5 and build this story and decide this isn’t right, there are probably going to be 10 other things we’ll discover that we’ll use for other things,” he said. Stahelski added that Lionsgate “would very much will [John Wick 5] into existence,” and he’s going to try to figure out how the film can work.

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Lionsgate officially revealed John Wick 5 during its panel at CinemaCon back in April. The project reunites Stahelski with franchise star Keanu Reeves. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but Stahelski has said his idea for the story moves beyond the High Table conflict featured in the first four John Wick films. Confirmation of John Wick 5 came as a surprise to some, seeing that John died at the end of the fourth movie. Prior to the announcement, Reeves had downplayed the possibility of returning since the character was dead.

In the meantime, the John Wick franchise is expanding with spin-off movies. This weekend sees the debut of From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, which stars Ana de Armas. Since that film is set between John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and John Wick 4, Reeves was able to return for a small role. Also in development is Caine, directed by and starring Donnie Yen, who will reprise his character from John Wick 4.

As much fun as it’s been for viewers to watch Reeves play John Wick, it’s encouraging that Stahelski isn’t just blindly moving forward with it. Fake-out deaths are nothing new in Hollywood, but John Wick 4 felt like a definitive ending for John’s story, as the former hitman finally found peace and was free of his obligations to the High Table. Undoing that would run the risk of sapping John Wick 4 of its impact. While it would be intriguing to see the story Stahelski has in mind for John Wick 5, pitting the Baba Yaga against new foes, it has to be done in a way that makes sense. John Wick 4 concluded with Winston and the Bowery King visiting their old friend’s grave, so Stahelski has to get pretty creative to work around that.

Lionsgate’s interest in John Wick 5 is understandable. Each installment earned more money than the last at the box office, with John Wick 4 grossing $440.1 million worldwide. A fifth entry in the mainline series would be a safe bet, though the John Wick brand also has a sterling critical reputation to uphold. All of the entries in the franchise to date (including Ballerina) have earned positive reviews, and it would be a shame if John Wick 5 underwhelmed and broke that trend. Considering how passionate Stahelski is about the series, he won’t move forward with John Wick 5 unless he’s sure it can reach the incredibly high bar he’s set with the earlier films, and that’s the way it should be. If Ballerina is successful, spinoffs might be the way to keep John Wick alive.