John Wick Director Wants to Have a Rock Solid Chapter 4 Before Considering John Wick 5

If the theatrical release schedule was the same today as it was five months ago, John Wick: Chapter 4 would be racing to theaters in a matter of months. Now, due to the delays and shutdowns associated with the coronavirus pandemic, the fourth Wick film isn't set to hit theaters until 2022, more than a full year after it was originally scheduled. It's not all doom and gloom at Lionsgate, however, as the distributor has already greenlit John Wick: Chapter 5, long before the fourth feature has even had the chance to start principal photography.

While Wick creator and screenwriter Derek Kolstad and director Chad Stahelski still have some time to develop two movies, Stahelski tells us he's taking it one movie at a time, making sure to make John Wick: Chapter 4 as good of a movie as it can be before even starting to dip his toes into John Wick: Chapter 5.

"There's the studio business side of things where, of course, I think they think Keanu and I are getting on in our years, so they're going to try do to two back to back," Stahelski says of filming two Wicks back-to-back. "That's interesting. It's very flattering. I'm psyched that I have a studio behind me that wants to keep making John Wicks."

Stahelski and his team are still continuing to develop the script as much as they can amongst lockdowns and quarantining.

"The way Keanu and I approach it with our writing team is, 'Look, we have ideas, but it's not like I'm working with two sets of writers on two movies,'" the filmmaker adds. "We're going to write a really good number four. If a really good number four feels solid to Keanu and I, we'll make that one. That doesn't mean we won't plan on a five or start writing five, but we want to make sure we have a solid story."

He concludes, "The worst thing you can do is 'I got five ideas. I'm going to put two in number four and put three in number five,' I don't want to try and stretch into two movies. I want to have solid ideas. So we're attacking number four with everything we have,. If there's anything left on the table, we'll fully attack number five."

John Wick: Chapter 4 is now due out May 27, 2022.

How many films do you think can be in the Wick franchise? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter!