While John Wick: Chapter 4 seemingly closes the door on the title character’s journey, its 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating and $432 million global take (a series best by more than $100 million) suggest that there’s still plenty of enthusiasm for a Chapter 5. This was confirmed straight from the horse’s mouth by Wick franchise producer Basil Iwanyk when Above the Line recently had a chance to talk to him about the success of Chapter 4.
“The question that people ask me more than any other question to do with the movie businesses: ‘Is there going to be John Wick 5?'” a laughing Iwanyk told us. “They’re not saying it because they don’t want one. They’re saying it because they want one, so that’s been incredibly gratifying. You would think after the fourth movie people would be like, ‘We got it.’ Now they’re like, ‘Give us more.'”
Fans got thrown a bone recently with the Mel Gibson-led TV series The Continental, and will get a little more Keanu action when Wick appears (during events prior to Chapter 4) in the forthcoming spin-off film Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas. But what about more entries in the proper, Reeves-led films?
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
John Wick: Chapter 4 ends on a bittersweet note, with Wick dying after a duel which gives him his freedom back ever-so-briefly, and somewhat restores balance to the world of The Table. The daughter of Donnie Yen‘s blind assassin Caine is considered safe, and Ian McShane‘s Winston has been reinstated as the manager of the New York Continental. While a scene of Wick standing by his own grave at the end was shot but tested poorly with audiences, Winston’s response to a question of whether Wick is in heaven or hell (“Who knows?”) leaves a small degree of open-endedness.
We asked Iwanyk if – given how the Wick films have gotten more and more abstract and outlandish as they’ve gone along – there been any talk of just biting the bullet and doing a metaphysical John Wick movie set in heaven and hell? It could be like Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey… with bullets!
“I think Keanu’s dream would be to somehow marry that movie into John Wick, it’d be his two favorite characters,” Iwanyk responded. “No, but I think if there is a John Wick 5, which we all hope there is, it will be a completely new movie than 1-through-4. 1-through-4 is like a book that’s closed. It will be a whole other book, to belabor that metaphor. What that is, we have no idea, but it’s not going to be six months after John Wick 4. It’s going to be a full palette cleanse. What that looks like, I wish I knew.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is now available on Digital, 4K, Blu-ray, and streaming on Starz. Look for more with Iwanyk over the coming week.
