John Wick 5 Script Being Written
There’s no stopping the Boogeyman. In May, Joe Drake, then the president of Lionsgate, said that the studio was developing a number of films in the John Wick universe, “including 5,” indicating that a fifth John Wick movie was on its way. Since then, there hasn’t been much movement; a lot of that was due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes. Chad Stahelski, who directed all four Wick movies, has indicated that he and star Keanu Reeves saw John Wick: Chapter 4 as the end of the line for Wick but that they would come back if there were a good script. He even said he’d written ideas for movies up to a ninth entry in the series. Today, during an earnings call (which is where the previous mention of a fifth Wick happened), Drake – who is now the chair of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group – said that John Wick 5 is being written, with progress having been halted due to the writers’ strike but now back on track. He also confirmed “multiple spin-offs” of the series.
It isn’t surprising that Lionsgate wants more John Wick. The series is a reliable moneymaker for them, with the films relatively cheap to make and attracting a loyal, action-starved audience. Stahelski and Reeves have been noncommittal but with indications that they’d return for a good script, so of course, Lionsgate will want to put something together to entice them back. There’s no mention of who’s actually writing the screenplay yet, which I’m sure the suits in a meeting like that don’t care about. But it would be good to know so we can gauge how likely Stahelski is to get something that makes him want to put his buddy Keanu Reeves against another wave of killers. And while this is mostly just confirmation of how serious Lionsgate is about more Wick, it also means that Drake didn’t misspeak in May, and nothing was misconstrued. The aim is to continue the series, and while it’s not a guarantee, we may be seeing Reeves in the role again at some point.
