As John Wick 3 Cleans up at the Box Office, John Wick 4 Has Already Been Announced

It has become clear that nothing short of a world-destroying asteroid—and probably not even that, if we’re being honest—is going to be able to stop Mr. John Wick at this point. Keanu Reeves’ spectacularly choreographed franchise of slam-bang, gun-fu action films from director Chad Stahelski have become a true cultural touchstone, and will now extend past the trilogy point and into the realm of 1980s action stars before him. With the box office success of John Wick: Chapter 3 and the announcement of John Wick: Chapter 4, the series takes one more step in the direction of Rambo-style cultural permanence, giving us an iconic action hero for the modern age, in a time when they’ve almost ceased to exist.

The next film in the series was announced in a particularly unusual way, via text messages sent to those who had signed up to receive John Wick-related updates. The text itself reads as follows: “You have served. You will be of service. John Wick: Chapter 4 is coming—May 21, 2021.”

The fact that there’s already a date attached to the release seems to imply that there was little doubt Chapter 3 – Parabellum was going to perform at the box office this past weekend. And indeed, like Wick himself, the film pretty much destroyed everything in its path, to the tune of a $57 million domestic opening. It finally knocked Avengers: Endgame from the top of the box office heap, while earning more strong critical reviews and audience reactions for its fight choreography and ever-expanding cinematic universe. That universe will expand even further with a TV series titled The Continental, to be set at the posh hotel that services NYC’s assassin community. No word yet on when or where that series will actually emerge.

How many more films, meanwhile, can possibly bear the John Wick name, before we start giving characters their own, individual spin-offs? Does Keanu have a John Wick 5 in him, where the character goes to space? Or a John Wick 6 where he descends to the center of the Earth to battle mole people? Let’s hope he maintains his seemingly steady supply of water from the Fountain of Youth and continues to deliver great action movies.

Read our review of John Wick: Chapter 3 here.