John Wick 4 has franchise-best opening weekend – and Lionsgate wants more John Wick movies
"We’re not ready to say goodbye to Keanu with this franchise"
John Wick: Chapter 4 has exploded onto the big screen with a franchise-best opening weekend. The fourquel, which was released this past Friday, March 24, has so far made $73.5 million in the US and $64 million worldwide, adding up to a total of $137.5 million.
The franchise's last installment, 2019's John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum opened to $56.8 million, so Chapter 4's box office performance is a vast improvement on that. It's no surprise, then, that distributor Lionsgate is reluctant to say goodbye to Keanu Reeves' world-class hitman – even if this last movie seemed like a swansong for the character.
"We’re not ready to say goodbye to Keanu with this franchise," Lionsgate boss Joe Drake told Deadline. "It’s what alternative there will be. There’s a lot of different things that we can do."
However, director Chad Stahelski recently said that he and Reeves wanted to give the franchise "a rest" after the release of Chapter 4. "In our minds, Keanu and I are done for the moment. We're going to give John Wick a rest. I'm sure the studio has a plan. If everyone loves it and it goes kooky, then we'll take a quiet minute," he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Regardless of Reeves' future in the franchise, this is not the end of the Wick-verse by any means – two spin-offs are on the way. The Continental, a series about the hotel and refuge for assassins of the same name, is on the way, along with Ballerina, a movie starring Ana de Armas as a ballerina-assassin.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is in theaters now. If you've already seen the movie, check out our guides to the John Wick 4 ending explained and John Wick 4 post-credits scenes. Plus, we've also ranked the best Keanu Reeves movies.
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I’m an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.