John Wick: Chapter 4 is on ITV1 this evening and features an ending that shocked fans when it hit cinemas two years ago. Keanu Reeves’ assassin had been shot and was bleeding out. The next thing we knew, Winston and the Bowery King were standing in front of his grave. But we never saw a body, and given the box office haul of the fourth film, Lionsgate were not going to shut down the action franchise anytime soon. Lo and behind, come April this year, the studio announced at CinemaCon that John Wick 5 was in the works, starring Reeves once again.
Meanwhile, franchise director Chad Stahelski told Empire in May: “The only way to do a 5 is to have a new story that involves John Wick. It’s not a continuation, with the High Table. John dealt with his grief. It will be really different, and everybody [will] see the trailer and go, ‘Holy f***… I gotta see that.’” Of course we will – it’s a John Wick movie.”
In the meantime, we’ve had the Ana de Armas-led spin-off Ballerina, which was set between the events of Chapters 3 and 4, with Reeves reprising Wick for a couple of extensive cameos. The titular star is also set to voice the role in an anime prequel to the original movie.
