Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski return for the next chapter in the blockbuster action franchise that has earned over $1 billion worldwide
After years of speculation about the franchise’s future, John Wick: Chapter 5 is officially moving forward at Lionsgate. Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski are both back for the feature, following the previous installment, which ended with the death of the titular assassin.
Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson announced at CinemaCon on Tuesday that the studio is in development for a fifth installment in the action film franchise. Lionsgate is developing the movie with Thunder Road producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, franchise director and producer Stahelski and producer-star Reeves.
“Keanu, Chad, Basil and Erica would not return unless they had something truly phenomenal and fresh to say with these characters and this world,” Fogelson said about the franchise that has collected more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office. “We can’t wait for audiences to see where the journey takes us next.”
Added Iwanyk and Lee in a joint statement,
“It’s so important to get this story right and give John’s story the proper next step. It’s exciting to take the first step on that road.”
John Wick: Chapter 4 hit theaters in 2023 and surpassed $440 million at the global box office. The film ended with Ian McShane’s Winston and Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King standing at a grave showing Wick’s name.
The franchise kicked off with the original John Wick in 2014, with Reeves starring as the titular hitman who gets pulled back into the criminal underworld after retiring. Spinoff film Ballerina hits theaters June 6, while new series John Wick: Under the High Table is in development from executive producers Stahelski and Reeves.
Back in May of 2023, then-Lionsgate chair Joe Drake teased possible plans for a fifth movie.
“We’re building out the world and when that 5 movie comes, it will be organic — will be organically grown out of how we’re starting to tell those stories,” Drake said at the time.
CinemaCon is the annual event for exhibitors and Hollywood studios that runs this year from March 31 to April 3. It is presented by Cinema United (formerly the National Association of Theatre Owners).