The World's Most Deadly Assassin Gets New Life as 'John Wick 5' Is Confirmed

An entire cinematic universe is growing "organically" out of the "John Wick" series, says Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group chair Joe Drake. During an earnings call on May 25, 2023, Drake dropped a bomb that left Wick fans stunned: "John Wick" is getting a fifth chapter.

The chairman gave absolutely nothing else in regards to Chapter 5 that fans of the movie series could sink their teeth into, but he mentioned the franchise's first spinoff would come in 2024, followed by two more television series, including the prequel series "The Continental."

Read: 'The Continental' Is a New TV Series Prequel to the World of 'John Wick'

"What is official is that, as you know, Ballerina is the first spinoff that comes out next year. We're in development on three others, including five and including the television series, The Continental, which will be airing soon," Drake told investors. "We're building out the world and when that 5 movie comes, it will be organic -- will be organically grown out of how we're starting to tell those stories. But you can rely on a regular cadence of John Wick."

"Ballerina" is set in the John Wick universe and will star Ana de Armas ("Knives Out," "The Gray Man") as a Ruska Roma assassin, in the same school where John Wick learned his trade. As fans saw in "John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum," the Ruska Roma take in orphans and train them in wrestling, ballet and other deadlier activities.

De Armas' character uses her newly acquired Wick-like skills to take revenge on a group of hitmen who killed her family.

Since "Ballerina" also stars Anjelica Huston, Ian McShane and Lance Reddick (who died in March 2023), we can probably assume they will be reviving their roles as The Director, Winston Scott and Charon, respectively.

In case you were wondering, yes, Keanu Reeves will return as John Wick in "Ballerina." Other familiar names joining the cast of "Ballerina" include Norman Reedus ("The Walking Dead") and Gabriel Byrne ("The Usual Suspects"), both adding new potential characters in the John Wick universe.

John Wick: Chapter 4 Spoilers Ahead

Of course, Lionsgate is going to make a "John Wick: Chapter 5." Chapter 4 grossed more than $429 million globally by the end of May 2023. Chapter 4 is the studio's seventh-highest grossing picture of all time (behind "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight" series). Although Winston Scott and the Bowery King were last seen standing over a grave marked "John Wick," Lionsgate couldn't kill its sacred cash cow so easily.

The first four movies could be watched independently, but were actually one long storyline. Short of taking down the entire High Table -- the cabal of 12 crime lords who are essentially in charge of everything that happens in the Wickiverse -- what could possibly be left for John Wick to do?

According to the Lionsgate chair, the plot of Chapter 5 will grow from the upcoming series of spinoffs, so we'll have to keep watching to even start guessing.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on LinkedIn.

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