Chapter 5’ May Not Happen After All

The following post contains SPOILERS for the end of John Wick: Chapter 4.

The status of John Wick: Chapter 5 has had more ups and downs than John Wick himself after the High Table killed his dog. The movie was originally announced as being made back-to-back with John Wick: Chapter 4. But then they only made Chapter 4, and when it arrived it was one epic saga which (spoilers) culminated in the apparent death of John Wick. That would seemingly kill the chances of a John Wick: Chapter 5 ever happening, unless this fifth chapter is like an Andy Warhol-esque exercise that’s just one uninterrupted shot of John Wick’s grave for two and a half hours.

There was just enough ambiguity in John Wick’s death that it left the door open a tiny crack to make a potential sequel. Since the release of John Wick: Chapter 4 we’ve gotten several different answers about whether that might happen. Director Chad Stahelski was initially adamant that the main franchise was over for now, with the series instead expanding into spinoffs like the upcoming Ballerina movie and The Continental TV series. But then the films’ distributor, Lionsgate, essentially announced that Chapter 5 was already in development. So… we’re thinking he’s back? Or… not? It’s all quite unclear.

READ MORE: The John Wick: Chapter 4 Director’s Cut Is Over Three Hours Long

So here’s the latest, from Stalheski (via Empire Magazine). To the question of whether Chapter 5 is happening or not, he replied “I honestly don’t know.” Then he added

Lionsgate is keen on doing more John Wick stuff, understandably. It’s not a bad thing for a director to have a property that they want to make more of. I don’t have a take right now. But I could wake up tomorrow and have a cool idea that I’d pitch to Keanu, or he would pitch to me, and it might hit that chord of, ‘Oh my God, we got to do this right now.’

Stahelski did say that he’s got ideas for action sequences bubbling in case they do decide to make a fifth film. But for now, at least from his perspective, it’s an if, not a when.

In the meantime, the John Wick spinoff film Ballerina is scheduled to open in theaters on June 7, 2024.