In just eight years, John Wick has evolved from a B-tier Keanu Reeves action movie to which nobody outside of the actor’s fans and genre junkies paid much attention, into a blockbuster cinematic universe that keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Not only did box office takings almost quadruple from $88 million to $326 million between the first and third chapters, but the levels of critical and audience adulation have remained through the roof, with all of the signs pointing to next year’s fourth installment keeping the hot streak alive.
In addition to more outings for Reeves’ sharp-suited assassin, prequel series The Continental is also on the way, while fast-rising star Ana de Armas will headline spinoff Ballerina. John Wick: Chapter 5 was given the green light a while back, and was originally set to shoot back-to-back with part four, so it’s no surprise to hear director Chad Stahelski reaffirm to Collider that he’s happy to keep making them as long as the people want to see it.
“As of right now it is the studio’s intention to continue the franchise. And look, I’m not going to we’ve all seen directors and producers where they go, “Yes. I don’t know. I guess I’ll do five,” or it’s like, “Oh, yeah, yeah.” And I’m just, “Look, man. ‘John Wick 1′ was a goof. We made it as a fun little action movie that we’d like to see.” And the fact that now nine years later, it’s changed our lives. It changed my life. It changed Keanu’s life. It’s changed a lot of other people’s lives. And people still want to see more.”
Stahelski recently stated that if he wants to send John Wick beyond the stars, then he’ll “go to f*cking space”, which is an idea that we seriously hope comes to fruition, even if it marks the title hero’s last stand.