With the success of the John Wick franchise having expanded into spin-offs with the prequel series The Continental premiering this fall and the Ana de Armas-led Ballerina next year, it’s no surprise to learn Lionsgate is not only developing further spin-offs but have officially announced John Wick: Chapter 5 is in development as well.
In Lionsgate’s earnings call, executive Joe Drake discussed how they are broadening John Wick from the main film series to TV and potentially video games, revealing that there are currently three projects in development which includes John Wick: Chapter 5 and The Continental.
“We’re now moving across that franchise, not just in the AAA video game space, but looking at what the regular cadence of spin-offs, television really growing that universe so that there is a steady cadence of a franchise that there’s clear appetite by the audience,” 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: Chapter 5] and including television series, The Continental, will be airing soon. And so, we’re building out the world and when that five movie comes, 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.”
Both Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski have expressed interest in continuing with a fifth chapter, that was originally set to shoot back-to-back with Chapter 4 until delays caused by the pandemic and other issues forced them to reconsider. Stahelski even expressed a desire to take a break from the John Wick franchise given how much work and logistics it takes on each chapter. However, while not entirely unexpected John Wick: Chapter 5 is something of a surprise given that (SPOILERS AHEAD!!!)… John seemingly died in the final moments of the film after gaining his freedom from the High Table by defeating the villainous Marquis with the Table’s own rules. It will be interesting to see how they manage to bring the Baba Yaga up from the grave.
With Drake having revealed Chapter 5 and The Continental are two of the three projects they are currently developing, that leaves the third project a mystery for fans to ponder over as the franchise grows. Maybe we will get a current-gen John Wick video game where players get to experience what it is to be like Wick themselves.
Meanwhile, The Continental is a three-part crime thriller series that will premiere on Peacock this September and explores the mysterious origins of the hotel-for-assassins, The Continental, through the eyes of a young Winton Scott in the hell-scape of 1970’s New York City. The series stars Mel Gibson, Colin Woodell, Mishel Prada, Ben Robson, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Nhung Kate, Jessica Allain, Ayomide Adegun, Jeremy Bobb, and Peter Greene.
Ballerina will be released next year and sees Ana de Armas as a young woman from the ballerina school seen in John Wick: Chapter 3 training to become an assassin to avenge her family. The film also includes John Wick veterans Anjelica Huston, Ian McShane and Lance Reddick with Reeves having shot a couple sequences with de Armas as well as Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) and Catalina Sandino Moreno (From).
What do you think the John Wick spin-offs could be? Do you want to see John Wick: Chapter 5 or are content with the way Chapter 4 ended? Let us know on our social channels at @flickeringmyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
