John Wick: Chapter 5 release, cast plans, and what we know so far

John Wick: Chapter 4 has arrived in theaters, with nearly three hours of massive action set pieces and incredible fights and shootouts. But as with any massive blockbuster, it’s never too early to start talking about sequels. The latest entry in the series ends on an ambiguous note that’s likely to leave fans arguing, but that doesn’t mean the series won’t return.

While John Wick: Chapter 5 has already been greenlit, details about what it might look like are sparse so far. But we do have a few clues from the creative team behind Chapter 4, as well as some hints about what’s next for the franchise. So here’s everything we know about the future of John Wick.

[Ed. note: This story contains major spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4.]

Will there be a John Wick: Chapter 5?

Probably. John Wick: Chapter 5 was technically greenlit back in 2020, shortly after the release of Chapter 3. And based on the early box-office tracking for the fourth entry in the series, it’s hard to imagine that Lionsgate has lost interest in another sequel.

According to director Chad Stahelski, though, most of what matters about making another John Wick entry is whether series star Keanu Reeves wants to do one, and whether he and Reeves have enough great ideas for new stunts and new set pieces to make another chapter meaningful.

Stahelski described the process of coming up with new John Wick movies in an interview with Collider, saying: “Literally every Wick has been written or at least conceptualized in Japan at the Imperial Hotel, with me and Keanu on our press tour. It starts with a few glasses of Yamazaki or Hibiki [whisky], and next thing you know, we’re like, ‘I didn’t know we could do this.’ And that’s how we start writing them.”

Image: Lionsgate Does John Wick die at the end of John Wick 4?

He might! Co-writers Michael Finch and Shay Hatten told Polygon in an interview that the ending is purposefully open-ended.

“What I will say is that we never actually see him dying. We see a [grave] plot. What happened in between is up for interpretation,” Finch said.

Hatten says the ending of John Wick: Chapter 4 leaves the resolution up to the audience, and invites them to consider their own feelings about the franchise. “I really think it is a fascinating kind of existential question that these movies have been asking for a long time: What is John even living for anymore?” he said. “Because at first, he’s living for the memory of his wife. But once he continues to go down this journey of putting himself deeper and deeper in this pit, he has to ask himself: ‘Am I being the man she would even want? Am I earning her memory?’ And so that kind of feeds into people interpreting that ending how they may wish to.”

“Look, the struggle on the John Wick franchise is really between John, loving husband, and John Wick, killer,” Finch said. “That’s the direction in all of these films. In [Chapter 4], we chose to address that head-on. Can John Wick ever be free? Or is the only way John Wick can ever be free through death? That’s what we’re playing with.”

As long as there’s no official word about John Wick: Chapter 5, it’s officially up to viewers to decide John’s actual fate.

When will John Wick 5 come out?

Stahelski says he needs a bit of a rest between each of these movies, so don’t expect John Wick: Chapter 5 to come out in 2024.

Stahelski told Slashfilm about his process between films:

Every time I come back to a ‘Wick,’ there’s been two or three years in between. That’s a lot of time for a human. You know how many pieces of art or music or museums or locations I’ve gone to in three years? Huge. I mean, think of what you do in a year. What would you do in three? Don’t you think all that would influence you? I just don’t think I’d be very good jumping right into something. I need a little bit of time to get better. I’ve got to go practice.

Lionsgate obviously doesn’t have a new John Wick movie on its docket yet, but it seems like it wouldn’t come out until at least 2025 or 2026.

Ana de Armas in the James Bond movie No Time to Die Image: MGM Is Ballerina a John Wick spinoff?

Ballerina is in fact a John Wick spinoff. It will follow a graduate of the ballet/assassin school John visits in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Ballerina was scripted by John Wick: Chapter 4 co-writer Shay Hatten and Promising Young Woman writer Emerald Fennell. It will be directed by Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) and star Ana de Armas. Other than that, we don’t know much about the movie so far, other than that Lionsgate bought the script from Hatten, who did some extra writing on John Wick: Chapter 3 before co-writing Chapter 4. Ballerina does not yet have a release date.

Image: Lionsgate What is the Continental spinoff series?

The Continental is a John Wick prequel miniseries about the chain of hotels that service the underworld of assassins in the series’ universe. Winston (Ian McShane) runs the New York branch, and Chapter 4 visits the Osaka branch of the hotel as well. The series is set to premiere sometime this year on Peacock, and is being created by Greg Coolidge (Ride Along), with Mel Gibson starring.