John Wick is an American neo-noir action-thriller media franchise created by screenwriter Derek Kolstad and owned by Summit Entertainment. Keanu Reeves plays John Wick, a retired hitman seeking vengeance for the killing of the dog given to him by his recently deceased wife, and for stealing his car.
The franchise began with the release of John Wick in 2014 followed by two sequels, John Wick: Chapter 2 on February 11, 2017, and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum on May 17, 2019. All three films were considered critical and commercial successes, accumulating a collective gross of more than $587 million worldwide. A fourth installment, John Wick: Chapter 4, is in pre-production and has a release date of May 27, 2022. A fifth installment is also in development, and it will be shot back-to-back with the fourth film in 2021.
John Wick is on the run, being hunted with a $14 million open contract on his life for breaking a foundational rule: taking a life on Continental Hotel grounds. The victim, Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) was a member of the High Table—the organization that ordered the open contract.
John should have already been executed but Continental’s manager, Winston (Ian McShane), has given him a one-hour grace period before he is “excommunicado”—his membership revoked with him banned from all services and cut off from other members. John uses favours and contacts accrued in his former life to stay alive as he fights his way out of New York City. In October 2016, Stahelski announced the development of the third film. The film began production in early 2018.
John Wick 5 will diverge from the franchise’s previous timeline, avoiding the worst way of bringing back Keanu Reeves. In May, the most recent addition to the John Wick franchise hit theaters, garnering overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. After the success of John Wick: Chapter 4, Lionsgate confirmed that the story of John Wick: Chapter 5 was actively in development.
While this news is exciting, it also creates confusion due to John Wick 4’s ending. The previous movie showed the titular assassin dying on the steps of a gothic church after Caine fatally wounded him. However, the entire franchise centers on Reeves’ character, making it nearly impossible to create a fifth movie without him.
In an interview with Screen Rant, producer Basil Iwanyk revealed John Wick 5 would take a different timeline approach from the previous movies, jumping forward in time. As such, Keanu Reeves’ character can come back without ruining the emotional impact of the previous film.
