After three ammo-laden adventures, one might imagine that ace assassin John Wick has no-one left to kill. Think again. Keanu Reeves' sharp-suited sharp-shooter will be back in John Wick 4 and John Wick 5. And Reeves' co-star Ian McShane has told Collider that he expects John Wick 4 to shoot this year, despite the COVID-19 chaos.
McShane will reprise his role as Winston, manager of the Hotel Continental that caters for the world's elite killers. As per the John Wick mythology, it's hallowed ground, and any death or destruction occurring on-site is strictly forbidden. Until the events of the blockbusting John Wick: Chapter 3 that is, when the building was stripped of its neutral position. That allowed Reeves' title character to use the building to his strategic advantage, laying waste to the roster of High Table goons sent to kill him.
It has been suggested that the fourth and fifth instalments will be filmed back to back. Stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski will be back behind the camera, and it's hard to imagine how one would top the epic knife fight or motorbike/horse face-off from the third movie.
"Keanu [Reeves] and I exchanged New Year’s greetings and said, 'Hope to see you this year,'" McShane explained. "I know the script is being written and they’re hoping to do it this year. I know they announced they were gonna do ['John Wick 4'] and ['John Wick 5'] together, but who knows. The studios announce all sorts of things. No doubt, at some point this year, we’re gonna do 'John Wick 4'."
When pressed as to his favourite John Wick movie, the enjoyably forthright McShane revealed: "They got such a good cast for the first one and it was a very good script. I thought the second one wasn’t quite as good, but people by then loved it and went with it. I think the third one was really terrific, so it lived up to it. I always thought it had legs because of Keanu, a dead wife, a dog, a gun, and a great car. It had all of the elements, so how can you fail?"
John Wick 4 was originally set for a 2021 release but has now been pushed back to 27th May 2022. It's not yet clear when the fifth chapter will reach our screens, although it's suggested that the movie will be released in 2023. Once again, this is all dependent on the shifting schedule amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
In the meantime, Keanu Reeves is set to reprise his role as Neo in The Matrix 4. The hacker turned world saviour will be leading the fourth dose of slick, bullet-time action, picking up the thread of the Matrix saga that began back in 1999. Carrie-Ann Moss will also return as Trinity with Lana Wachowski behind the camera. Another Reeves movie that's been beset by release delays, The Matrix 4 will reach us on 22nd December 2021.
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