Warning: This post contains spoilers for the first three John Wick films.
Yeah, we’re thinking he’s back. Keanu Reeves has a number of legendary franchises to his name, and he can certainly count John Wick among them now. Following a four-year absence, John Wick: Chapter 4 is set to hit theaters soon. Ahead of its release, we’ve compiled everything you need to know about the new film, including what it’s about, when it’s coming out, and who is in the star-studded cast. The fourth installment in the John Wick franchise is set to hit theaters on March 24. The movie’s release will cap a fairly busy month at the movies, which also sees the release of Creed III, Scream VI, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. When we last left our hero, he had been thoroughly betrayed by the High Table and left for dead. In this new installment, John discovers a way to defeat the High Table. Before he can start, though, a new enemy arises that takes him on a globe-trotting adventure to take down enemies from all over the globe. Filming locations for the new movie included New York City, Osaka, Berlin, and Paris, so it certainly does seem like everyone’s favorite assassin will be traversing the globe in this new installment. Many familiar faces will be returning for this new installment, including Keanu Reeves in the titular role alongside Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, and Laurence Fishburne. Because so many cast members in any John Wick movie are killed off before the next installment, though, Chapter 4 also introduces plenty of new faces, many of them who will be fighting John Wick. Among those new cast members are Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, and Clancy Brown. Other new additions to the cast include Scott Adkins, Hiroyuki Sanada, Natalia Tena, and Marko Zaror. John Wick: Chapter 4 has a pair of trailers designed to whet your appetite for the new film. The trailers obviously show off plenty of the movie’s fight choreography, but they also highlight the extravagant filming locations that the movie contains. The final trailer also contains a super fun music cue that will make any Sopranos fan either happy or furious. You can check out the first trailer above, and the final trailer below. John Wick: Chapter 4 is supposed to be the longest in the franchise to date by a huge amount. The movie is currently reported to be 169 minutes long, or well over 2.5 hours. While the movie’s official runtime hasn’t been released yet, that runtime suggests that this movie will spend a decent amount of time in all of the cities it visits. The action may drag a little bit after so long, but only time will tell whether that long running time is worth the price of admission. Upon its initial release, John Wick: Chapter 4 will only be available in theaters. The movie will show up on streaming eventually, although you may have to pay to rent it at first. The first three movies in the series are all currently available to stream on Peacock. Planning has already begun for the fifth John Wick, which was greenlit ahead of the release of the fourth film. Chapters 4 and 5 were initially supposed to be filmed at the same time, but production delays eventually made that impossible. Reeves has also stated that he will keep making these movies as long as they continue to be successful, even if it’s not a 100% guarantee. He and McShane will also star in Ballerina, a John Wick spin-off starring Ana de Armas that takes place between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. Keanu Reeves would do John Wick 5 if his body holds up. In a recent interview with CBS News, Reeves was asked about reprising the titular assassin in John Wick 5. Reeves is not opposed to suiting up one final time. However, the 60-year-old is unsure if his knees can withstand the physical toll required to make an intense action movie.
“You can never say never,” Reeves said. “My knees right now are saying, ‘I can’t do another John Wick.’ So my heart does, but I don’t know if my knees can do it.”
John Wick: Chapter 4 was supposed to serve as the franchise’s finale. At the end of the fourth film, Winston Scott (Ian McShane) visits Wick’s gravestone, located beside the one for his wife, Helen. Wick presumably died from his injuries sustained from the duel in Paris. As Winston walks away, Wick’s dog is looking at something in the background. Could be this be Wick himself? “I was excited. I was nervous. I was worried,” Ana de Armas says about preparing to take on the lead role in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. The forthcoming John Wick spinoff stars de Armas as Eve Macarro, a ballerina who begins training as an assassin and sets out on a quest to avenge her father’s death. Set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4, the film is set to feature Keanu Reeves’ Wick in a small role, but a new featurette for Ballerina understandably centers its attention on de Armas’ bloodthirsty Eve. “When I got the opportunity or the offer, it was really inspiring,” de Armas reveals over footage of her character being told to “lean into [her] strength” during some intense rounds of martial arts training. While discussing the spinoff’s elaborate, John Wick-inspired action sequences, the actress said: “You have to be prepared for whatever they throw at you. It was a kind of discipline — physical and mental — that I didn’t know before.” Ten years ago this month, John Wick hit theaters and gave Keanu Reeves a comeback for the ages. But it’s easy to forget that the film wasn’t a huge hit out of the gate. An $86 million worldwide take at the box office is hardly memorable, even when considering the film’s modest $20 million to $30 million budget. It took time for action fans to latch on to John Wick when it had its post-theatrical release on home media. But once they did, John Wick became the start of a franchise that is still going a decade later. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of John Wick, we’re looking back at the film itself and how it brought Reeves’ career back to life after a long downward spiral following his stint in The Matrix and its sequels.
John Wick revitalized Keanu Reeves’ career
