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Warning: The below contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4.
Update 03/28/2023: Lionsgate is officially considering John Wick 5 after Chapter 4 pulled off a record-breaking box office debut for the franchise.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake has indicated the fifth installment of the John Wick franchise is back on the drawing board, even though John Wick: Chapter 4 was the anticipated finale of the main franchise.
"There's a will and there's an openness. And you could certainly interpret that ending in different ways," said Drake. "We're all going to take a tiny rest here and then scratch at ideas about whether there's a credible way to get into five. But there's no guarantee."
The original plan was to film John Wick 5 back-to-back with John Wick 4, but that never came to fruition as the team changed direction and decided to wrap the franchise up in Chapter 4. Director Chad Stahelski and lead star Keanu Reeves were said to be in agreement on the ending.
"Keanu and Chad, rightly so, are very protective about never screwing with the audience," Drake added. "So we certainly have our work cut out for us… Keanu is so beloved and that character is so beloved; that's not lost on him."
Warning: The below contains full spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4.
Original Story 03/27/2023: Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake has expressed his desire for Keanu Reeves to star in more John Wick films, especially after Chapter 4 scored a franchise-best box office debut.
John Wick: Chapter 4 dominated the box office in its first weekend, raking in $73.5 million at the North American box office and $137.5 million worldwide. The franchise has grown in popularity with each new entry, and Drake is keen for Reeves to reprise the role again.
"We're not ready to say goodbye to Keanu with this franchise. It's what alternative there will be," Drake told Deadline on Sunday. "There's a lot of different things that we can do… I've seen this movie five times in the last week. I can see the way that the audience moves him."
Chapter 4 served as a swan song for the John Wick character as we see him duelling to the death against martial arts expert Caine at the end of the movie. However, this won't be the last time we see Reeves' legendary hitman as the franchise is still expanding.
There are at least two projects set in the franchise still to be released: Peacock's The Continental, a 1970s-set prequel series following Winston and Charon's early days, and Ballerina, a movie which will follow the Ruska Roma's Rooney, who we briefly saw in Chapter 3.
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So while Chapter 4 brings John Wick's story to an immensely satisfying close, there's still plenty of room for Reeves to appear in cameos in stories set before his character's death, such as the upcoming spinoff Ballerina, which is currently slated for release in 2024.
If you want to see Reeves in action before then, we highly recommend checking out John Wick: Chapter 4. IGN's 10/10 review called the film "a modern action masterclass," set up with "incredibly staged action scenes, engaging ensemble, and stylish production design."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
