After some back and forth on the future of John Wick, Lionsgate confirmed it's planning to continue the mainline series with a fifth film currently "in development."
Speaking on the franchise's future during Lionsgate's most recent earnings call, the company's motion picture group chair, Joe Drake, said: "What is official is that, as you know, Ballerina is the first spinoff that comes out next year. We're in development on three others, including [John Wick 5] and including television series The Continental.
"And so, we're building out the world and when that [fifth] movie comes, [it] will be organic — will be organically grown out of how we're starting to tell those stories. But you can rely on a regular cadence of John Wick."
John Wick 5 was originally going to be shot back to back with John Wick: Chapter 4. However, when those plans changed, the future of the mainline film series became uncertain. Now, following the box office success of John Wick 4, Lionsgate has officially pushed it into early development.
The news comes two months after Lionsgate said it was considering John Wick 5 and two weeks after producer Basil Iwanyk said the future of the franchise would be determined by star Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski over a bottle of whiskey in Japan.
As for the spinoffs Drake mentioned: The Continental, a three-part prequel series starring Mel Gibson, will debut first in September on Peacock. Ballerina, a feature-film spinoff starring Ana de Armas's Ruska Roma, is then scheduled to hit theaters on June 7, 2024. Halle Berry has also hinted that her character, Sofia Al-Azwar, may star in a spinoff movie, though that remains unofficial.
As for what a John Wick 5 might entail, check out our breakdown of (spoilers) John Wick: Chapter 4's ending and what it may mean for the future of the franchise. You can also check out IGN's 10/10 John Wick: Chapter 4 review.
Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.
source https://www.ign.com/articles/john-wick-5-early-development