John Wick: Chapter 4

John Wick: Chapter 4 (also known simply as John Wick 4) is a 2023 American neo-noir action thriller film which is serving as the direct sequel to 2019's John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019), as well as the fourth installment in the John Wick film series. Directed by Chad Stahelski, with a script co-written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, and based on characters created by Derek Kolstad, it is produced by Stahelski, Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee. Starring Keanu Reeves returning as the title character, the film is produced by Thunder Road Pictures and 87North Productions. Alongside Reeves, the film stars Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick (in one of his final roles), Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, and Ian McShane.
Development for a fourth John Wick film was confirmed prior to the release of its predecessor; it was formally announced by Lionsgate in May 2019, who also confirmed Reeves' return. It is the first film in the franchise not to be written by franchise creator Derek Kolstad, with Hatten hired in May 2020, followed by Finch in March 2021, to complete the screenplay. The rest of the main cast was rounded out by August 2021 while principal photography took place from that June until that October, with filming locations including Berlin, Paris, Osaka, and New York City.
Originally set for worldwide theatrical release on May 21, 2021, the film was delayed first due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then due to Reeves' commitments with The Matrix Resurrections (2021). The film premiered at Leicester Square in London on March 6, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 24, 2023. The film received critical acclaim from reviewers, with many considering it to be the best film in the franchise.
== Plot ==
In New York City, John Wick prepares to exact revenge against the High Table while hiding underground with the Bowery King. He travels to Morocco and kills the Elder, the "one who sits above the Table". In response, the Marquis Vincent de Gramont, a member of the High Table, summons New York Continental hotel manager Winston and his concierge, Charon.
De Gramont explains that the High Table has released him from following normal rules and given him unlimited resources so he can find and kill John Wick. He chastises Winston for his failure to assassinate John. As punishment, De Gramont strips Winston of his duties as manager, declares him "excommunicado", destroys the Continental, and executes Charon. De Gramont then travels to Paris and enlists Caine – a blind, retired High Table assassin – to kill his old friend John, threatening to murder Caine's daughter otherwise.
John takes refuge at the Osaka Continental, run by his friend Shimazu Koji. De Gramont's aide Chidi, backed by High Table assassins and Caine, arrives to investigate the hotel. Shimazu's daughter Akira, the hotel's concierge, evacuates the hotel just before the High Table "deconsecrates" it, igniting a melee. John fights through waves of armored assassins, and a showdown with Caine is interrupted by a bounty hunter who calls himself "Mr. Nobody". He aids in John's escape after determining the contract money for killing John to be insufficient. Caine allows a wounded Akira to flee after reluctantly killing her father.
John returns to New York and meets with a vengeful Winston at Charon's gravesite. Winston advises John to invoke an old High Table tradition and challenge De Gramont to a duel. Winning would free John of all obligations to the High Table, but he can only request a duel on behalf of a crime family. He travels to the Berlin headquarters of the Ruska Roma crime syndicate, with whom he had severed ties, to request readmission. His adoptive sister Katia agrees to his request in exchange for John killing Killa, a High Table member who murdered her father. Although Killa sets up an ambush at his nightclub, John still manages to kill him and regain his status.
Winston relays John's formal challenge to De Gramont. He requests the New York Continental be rebuilt, with him reinstated as manager, should John win, but also learns he will be killed if John fails. In Paris, John and De Gramont decide the parameters of their duel - dueling pistols on the following sunrise at Sacré-Cœur - in a meeting moderated by the Harbinger, the Table's emissary. De Gramont nominates a reluctant Caine to fight in his place, promising to free him and his daughter from the Table's influence if he wins; John and Winston will be executed should either fail to appear on time. The Bowery King arrives in Paris to give John a pistol and a new ballistic suit.
De Gramont intends to prevent John from arriving at the duel in time by placing a $26 million bounty on him. John fights off hordes of assassins on his way to Sacré-Cœur, including Mr. Nobody, who negotiates a bounty increase to $40 million. During their confrontation, John prevents Chidi from killing Mr. Nobody's beloved dog; a stunned Mr. Nobody decides to abandon his pursuit of John. After Caine and Mr. Nobody assist John in fighting off several assassins—including Chidi, whom Mr. Nobody kills — at a long staircase that leads to Sacré-Cœur, they reach the summit just in time for the duel. John and Caine inflict serious wounds on each other through two rounds of dueling. The third round comes to a halt when Caine severely wounds John. Demanding the right to administer the coup de grâce, De Gramont eagerly swaps places with Caine. However, John, who had not yet fired his third bullet, shoots and kills an unsuspecting De Gramont.
The Harbinger grants Caine and John their freedom from the High Table, and Winston is reinstated. After collapsing on the staircase, John reflects upon his life and marriage before succumbing to his injuries. Sometime later, Winston and the Bowery King organize John's funeral and bid farewell to him at his tombstone, located next to his late wife Helen's.
In a post-credits scene, Caine returns to Paris to reunite with his daughter but is approached by the vengeful Akira, who brandishes a weapon.
== Cast ==
* Keanu Reeves as John Wick, a professional hitman and assassin who has gained legendary reputation for his set of skills and is now hunted by the High Table.
* Donnie Yen as Caine, a blind High Table assassin and friend of John Wick, who is forced out of retirement to kill John Wick to ensure the safety of his daughter.
* Bill Skarsgård as The Marquis de Gramont, a member of the High Table whose position is challenged by John Wick.
* Laurence Fishburne as The Bowery King, a former underground crime boss who was left for dead by the High Table, and now is sponsoring John Wick.
* Hiroyuki Sanada as Shimazu, the manager of the Osaka Continental Hotel and an old friend of John Wick.
* Shamier Anderson as Mr. Nobody / The Tracker, a bounty hunter pursuing Wick.
* Lance Reddick as Charon, the concierge at the Continental Hotel in New York.
* Rina Sawayama as Akira, Koji's daughter and concierge of the Osaka Continental.
* Scott Adkins as Killa Harkan, the head of the German Table.
* Clancy Brown as The Harbinger, a high-ranking operative of the High Table.
* Ian McShane as Winston, the manager of the New York Continental Hotel and friend of John Wick.
Natalia Tena portrays Katia, John Wick's adoptive sister; and Marko Zaror portrays Chidi, the right-hand man of the Marquis de Gramont. George Georgiou appears as the Elder, "the one who sits above the Table"; Georgiou portrays a different character than the one played by Saïd Taghmaoui in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019). Bridget Moynahan appears as John's late wife, Helen. Sven Marquardt, an infamous European bouncer, appears as a Ruska Roma member named Klaus. Retired sumo wrestler Yoshinori Tashiro made an appearance as the Osaka Continental gatekeeper.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
On May 20, 2019, following the release of Parabellum, Lionsgate announced that a fourth movie is already in the works. Fans who had been receiving "John Wick" text updates from Lionsgate received the sequel news in assassin-speak Monday: "You have served. You will be of service. John Wick: Chapter 4 is coming – May 21, 2021", announcing not only the film but its release date.
Before the third film's release, director Chad Stahelski confirmed on a Reddit "AMA" thread that there had been discussion for another film, and that he would be involved with the project should the threequel be successful. Despite this announcement back then, it was not confirmed if star Keanu Reeves would return for a new installment. However, he told GQ that he would carry on the role as long as the audience wanted it, saying, "As far as my legs can take me, as far as the audience wants to go."
Stahelski later has teased the fourth film on an interview to IndieWire by saying Wick would not end the fourth film in "a happy ending", saying, "John may survive all this shit but at the end of it, there's no happy ending. He's got nowhere to go. Honestly, I challenge you right now, here's a question to you: How do you fucking want me to end it? Do you think he's going to ride off into the fucking sunset? He's killed 300 fucking people and he's just going to [walk away], everything's okay? He's just going to fall in love with a love interest? If you're this fucking guy, if this guy really exist[ed], how is this guy's day going to end? He's fucked for the rest of his life. It's just a matter of time." Additionally, Stahelski teased Winston's fate in the fourth film, saying, "He meant to shoot him. Did he mean to kill him? That's open for interpretation, you can take it one of two ways, and that's kind of where we pick up some of the unanswered questions in John Wick 4." The studio opted to move on from series creator Derek Kolstad and instead hired Shay Hatten to write the script in May 2020. In March 2021, screenwriting duties were passed onto Predators co-screenwriter Michael Finch.
On May 1, 2020, IndieWire revealed that the fourth film had been delayed to a May 2022 release date following the COVID-19 pandemic and Reeves' commitments to The Matrix Resurrections, which was slated to be released on the same original date window with Wick 4. "The Matrix 4 was only four weeks in when this all happened [production of The Matrix 4 halted]," Stahelski said, "So, Keanu's gotta go finish his commitment up on The Matrix, which is a big deal and which I think will probably take him until the end of the year. Then we have to go into our prep mode and then we'll start. So release dates ... who knows right now."
When the fourth film was announced, Reeves was reportedly revealed to have begun his training course for John Wick 4 and The Matrix Resurrections.
=== Pre-production ===
In early August 2020, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer stated during an earnings call, "We're also busy preparing scripts for the next two installments of our John Wick action franchise, with John Wick 4 slated to hit theaters Memorial Day weekend 2022. We hope to shoot both John Wick 4 and 5 back to back when Keanu becomes available early next year."
In May 2021, it was announced that Rina Sawayamawould make her feature film debut in John Wick Chapter 4. The following month, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Shamier Anderson, and Scott Adkins were cast in the film. Sanada was initially courted to portray Zero in Chapter 3, but dropped out in favor of appearing in Avengers: Endgame (2019). In July 2021, Lance Reddick was confirmed to be reprising his role as Charon, and Ian McShane was confirmed to be reprising his role as Winston. Clancy Brown joined the cast that August.
=== Set design and weapons selection ===
Most of the weapons used in the film were chosen from stock and custom weapon design firms and were already in existence before filming. De Gramont nominates a reluctant Caine to fight in his place in a duel using enhanced 20th century Thompson/Center Contenders in the sunrise scene at Sacré-Cœur. The Bowery King when he arrives in Paris hands John a custom 21-round Pit Viper pistol manufactured by TTL.
Near the start of the film, the character of Caine is shown handling an opulent gold watch from the jeweler Carl F. Bucherer with an image portrait of his daughter inside of the gold case closure lid.
=== Filming ===
Principal photography began on June 28, 2021, on a $100 million budget, and took place in France, Germany, New York City, and Japan. Several French crew, including the Location Manager, described filming in Paris as "hell"; due to a two-week delay filming in Germany, Stahelski had less time to scout Paris and would improvise and change locations last minute.Filming took place at Luxembourg Gardens and the Church of St. Eustache. The introductory scene was filmed in a Parisian "sunken cathedral", "La Défense Cathedral". The chase-shootout around the Arc de Triomphe was finished at a disused airport near Berlin.
Filming concluded on October 27.
=== Post-production ===
Stahelski described an early cut of John Wick: Chapter 4 as "screwed" because the expanded worldbuilding of its title character and the introduction of new characters took 225 minutes of screen time. Editor Nathan Orloff performed more substantial cuts, bringing the film down to 169 minutes.
== Release ==
Lionsgate officially announced the film during Parabellum's opening week, with a scheduled release date of May 21, 2021. The film's release date was delayed to May 27, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then further to March 24, 2023, in part to avoid opening against Top Gun: Maverick. The film had its red carpet premiere at the Leicester Square in London on March 6, 2023. It is also scheduled to have a special screening at the SXSW Film Festival on March 17, 2023. It also had a special screening at the South by Southwest on March 13, 2023. In India, the film was dubbed and released in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.
== Box office ==
As of April 6, 2023, John Wick: Chapter 4 has grossed $132.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $122 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $254.5 million.
In the United States and Canada, John Wick: Chapter 4 was projected to gross $65–70 million from 3,855 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $29.4 million on its first day, including $8.9 million from Thursday night previews, both the best of the series, and both the best of any R-rated film released since March 2020. It went on to debut to $73.8 million, topping the box office and marking the best opening weekend of the franchise. It was also the best opening weekend for Lionsgate and for any R-rated film since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, with the latter record surpassing Halloween Kills (2021). This also marked the year's second-highest opening weekend at the time of its release, after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The film made $28.3 million in its sophomore weekend (a drop of 61.6%), finishing second behind newcomer Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
== Critical reception ==
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 318 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads, "John Wick: Chapter 4 piles on more of everything -- and suggests that when it comes to a well-dressed Keanu Reeves dispatching his enemies in lethally balletic style, there can never be too much." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 58 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, continuing an upward trend for the series, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 93% positive score, with 82% saying they would definitely recommend it.
== Future ==
=== Potential sequel ===
In August 2020, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer confirmed that a fifth film was being developed alongside John Wick: Chapter 4. While it was initially intended to be shot back-to-back with the fourth installment, in March 2021 Lionsgate opted to delay production and solely move forward with Chapter 4. In 2019, Reeves stated that he would continue making sequels, as long as the films were successful. Stahelski later said there are no plans for an immediate sequel, stating, "In our minds, Keanu and I are done for the moment. We're going to give John Wick a rest. I'm sure the studio has a plan. If everyone loves it and it goes kooky, then we'll take a quiet minute."
A potential fifth film was no longer on the table by the time the film was released, in part due to Wick's presumed death in Chapter 4. Stahelski said that the reason he and Reeves abandoned plans for a sequel was his skepticism over his ability to "deliver two uniquely special experiences". Lionsgate initially demurred at the duo's plan to retire Reeves' character, but eventually acquiesced. Despite Stahelski and Reeves' insistence on the fate of Wick, Lionsgate president Joe Drake later hinted at the possibility of a fifth film due to Chapter 4's unforeseen level of commercial success, while Stahelski stated he was open to a sequel.
=== Spin-offs ===
Reeves and McShane will reprise their respective roles as Wick and Winston in the upcoming film Ballerina, a spin-off to the John Wick films set between the events of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4, with Ana de Armas starring in the lead role. Also in development is a spin-off television series entitled The Continental, which will feature younger versions of several John Wick characters. Yen has expressed interest in a spin-off centered on Caine.
== Videos ==
JW4 - Sneak Peek
John Wick- Chapter 4 (2023 Movie) Official Trailer – Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård
John Wick- Chapter 4 (2023) Final Trailer – Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård
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