‘John Wick Chapter 4’ Pushed Back to 2023

It appears that fans will not get to see Keanu Reeves as the deadly assassin quite yet, as John Wick: Chapter 4 has now been delayed to March 2023. Lionsgate made the announcement Wednesday through their social media, posting a short video that came with the message "Being seeing you."

The fourth installment was originally set for a May 21, 2021 release date before being delayed to May 27, 2022 due to COVID-19. Although avoiding Tom Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick's May 27, 2022 release, which Paramount pushed back from November 19, 2021, John Wick: Chapter 4 will now unfortunately be slated 10 months later on March 24, 2023.

It is also significant to add that Lionsgate's decision, while it does make sense to dodge a box office competition with another highly anticipated film, does come while much of the world is dealing with yet another surge of COVID-19. While many films and their release dates have not been directly impacted, it wouldn't be too surprising to see more studios delay their films yet again.

Even being pushed back almost another year, the hype level surrounding the film will not fade away. What appeared to be a simple, small-budget 2014 action thriller film turned into a massive franchise that would collectively gross nearly $600 million worldwide and revamp Keanu Reeves' career.

Now already three films in, the John Wick franchise, like its main protagonist, shows no signs of slowing down as a fourth film is shaping up to be the biggest and most impactful in the whole franchise.

"I read the script. It's really, really cool.," Laurence Fishburne, who plays The Bowery King in the films, told Collider this past summer. "As much as it's the same world as the other three films, it's just deeper. It's much deeper in terms of the code of the assassin and the relationship that he has with one character in particular who I think Mr. Watanabe is playing... is really the heart and soul of it."

The finals of John Wick: Chapter 3 --Parabellum saw John, now separated from the High Table after breaking his allegiance with them by refusing to kill Winston, being repeatedly shot by Winston (who offered his fealty to the high table at the last second), causing him to fall off of a building.

The severely injured John is then secretly handed over to The Bowery King to be cared for, where he also declares war on the high table. Fans can expect the fourth film to delve deeper into the assassin-filled world while also, somehow, increasing the kill count.

The sequel will see Ian McShane and Lance Reddick reprise their roles as Winston and Charon, with other big names like Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård and Hiroyuki Sanada joining the cast.

December 23, 2021