Is ‘John Wick Chapter 5’ Still Happening?

It has been over a year since John Wick: Chapter 4 premiered to a positive reception, raising questions about when or if John Wick: Chapter 5 is coming.

The John Wick franchise has grown rapidly in the decade since the first film was released. The original movie captivated fans with its intriguing revenge plot and helped revive Keanu Reeves’ Hollywood career. Since the original took off, the film earned three sequels, each of which was a box office hit. The franchise is finally starting to deviate from the original series with the TV show The Continental: From the World of John Wick and the 2025 spinoff movie Ballerina. However, viewers are unlikely to forget about the original series that started it all.

John Wick: Chapter 4 picks up where John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum left off, with John Wick (Reeves) joining forces with the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) to get vengeance on the High Table after the organization attacked him and left him for dead. Of course, going up against the most significant authority in the criminal underworld is no easy task, raising the stakes, action, and violence higher than any other movie.

The film achieved high critical acclaim and became the ninth highest-grossing film of 2023. With many considering it the best in the series, it only served to renew excitement of the franchise’s future.

Does John Wick: Chapter 5 have a release date?

The status of John Wick: Chapter 5 has been uncertain following the shocking ending of John Wick: Chapter 4. Initially, the film was greenlit and was meant to be shot back-to-back with the fourth film. If those plans had been carried out, we’d likely already have the fifth movie by now. However, things eventually changed so that the crew could put all its focus on John Wick: Chapter 4. Still, with the knowledge that there was going to be a fifth film at some point, questions of the sequel persisted.

Fortunately, Lionsgate has confirmed that John Wick: Chapter 5 is in development, revealing during an earnings call in late 2023 that the movie was being written following the conclusion of the Writers Guild of America strike. The only problem is that this is the only recent update viewers have received about the movie, and there is no confirmed release date or release window. However, it’s safe to say it will be released after Ballerina, which is currently in post-production and set to release on June 6, 2025.

With so little news on John Wick: Chapter 5, it’s unlikely production will begin anytime soon, especially since viewers aren’t even sure how Wick will return for another movie given that he seemingly passed away in the last film. This, combined with the fact that the studio will likely want to give Ballerina plenty of space for its theatrical run, means the fifth installment likely won’t arrive until 2026 at the earliest.

(featured image: Lionsgate)