John Wick: Chapter 4 | |
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Directed by | Chad Stahelski |
Written by |
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Based on | Characters by Derek Kolstad |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Dan Laustsen |
Edited by | Nathan Orloff |
Music by |
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Production companies | |
Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release dates |
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Running time | 169 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $100 million[2] |
Box office | $440.1 million[3][4] |
John Wick: Chapter 4 is a 2023 American neo-noir action thriller film that is the sequel to John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and the fourth installment in the John Wick franchise, starring Keanu Reeves as the title character. It is directed and co-produced by Chad Stahelski and written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch. It also features Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown, and Ian McShane. This also the second film which featured the collaboration of Adkins and Yen, after Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019). In the film, John Wick sets out for revenge on the High Table and those who left him for dead.
Development of the fourth John Wick film, formally announced by Lionsgate in May 2019, was confirmed before the release of its predecessor. It is the first film in the franchise that was not written by franchise creator Derek Kolstad; Hatten was hired in May 2020, then Finch in March 2021. Principal photography took place from June to October 2021 in France, Germany, New York City, and Japan.
The planned release on May 21, 2021, was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] John Wick: Chapter 4 premiered at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London on March 6, 2023, and was released in the United States on March 24. The film received acclaim from critics, with praise for its action sequences, Stahelski's direction, cinematography, choreography, visual style, writing, score, and performances, and has grossed $440.1 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film in the franchise, as well as the ninth-highest-grossing film of the year domestically in the United States.
A spin-off/prequel, titled From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, is set for release on June 6, 2025, while a fifth John Wick film is in development.
In New York City, John Wick prepares to exact vengeance against the High Table while hiding underground with the Bowery King.[a] He travels to Morocco and kills the Elder, the "one who sits above the Table". In response, High Table member Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont summons New York Continental Hotel manager Winston and his concierge Charon, where he explains that the High Table has given him unlimited resources to kill John and chastises Winston for previously failing to do so. As punishment, the Marquis strips Winston of his managerial duties, declares him "excommunicado", destroys the New York Continental, and executes Charon. The Marquis then enlists Caine – a blind, retired High Table assassin – to kill his old friend John, threatening to murder Caine's daughter.
John takes refuge at the Osaka Continental, run by his friend Shimazu Koji. The Marquis' second-in-command Chidi, backed by High Table assassins and Caine, arrives to investigate the hotel. Koji'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, leading to a showdown against Caine. A bounty hunter named Mr. Nobody interrupts their fight and allows John to escape after determining the current bounty for killing John to be insufficient. A wounded Koji repeatedly attacks Caine on John's behalf, until Caine reluctantly kills Koji, but spares Akira.
John returns to New York and meets with a vengeful Winston at Charon's gravesite. Winston suggests that John invoke an old High Table tradition to challenge the Marquis 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. John travels to the Berlin headquarters of the Ruska Roma crime syndicate, with whom he had severed ties, to request readmission. His adoptive sister Katia stipulates that for readmission, John must kill Killa Harkan, a High Table member who was paid by the Marquis to murder her father. Killa sets up an ambush at his nightclub, but with the aid of Caine and Mr. Nobody, John manages to kill him and regain his status. Winston relays John's challenge to the Marquis, acting as John's "second" and requests that, should John win, his excommunicado be revoked and he be reinstated as manager of the rebuilt New York Continental, fully funded by the High Table; should John lose, however, Winston would also die.
In Paris, John and the Marquis decide on the duel's parameters – dueling pistols at sunrise the following day at Sacré-Cœur – in a meeting moderated by the Harbinger, the Table's emissary. The Marquis nominates a reluctant Caine to take his place, while the Harbinger warns that both 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. The Marquis 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 dog, causing Mr. Nobody to abandon his pursuit of John.
After Caine and Mr. Nobody assist John in fighting off several assassins – including Chidi, whom Mr. Nobody kills – on the Rue Foyatier, they reach the summit just in time for the duel. John and Caine wound each other through two rounds of dueling, and the third round comes to a halt when Caine severely wounds John. Demanding the right to administer the coup de grâce, the Marquis eagerly swaps places with Caine. Winston chides the Marquis for his arrogance, revealing that John had not fired his third bullet. John then promptly executes the Marquis with a headshot, ending the duel. The Harbinger grants John and Caine (as well as his daughter) their freedom from the High Table and reinstates Winston as Hotel Manager of the New York Continental, which will be rebuilt with the High Table's funds. John reflects upon his life and marriage before collapsing from his injuries. Some time later, back in New York, Winston and the Bowery King bid farewell to John at a gravestone with his name, located next to one for his wife Helen.[b]
In a post-credits scene, Caine returns to Paris to reunite with his daughter, but is approached by a vengeful, knife-wielding Akira.
Natalia Tena portrays Katia Javanavič, Wick's adoptive sister;[21] and 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 Parabellum (2019).[22][23] Bridget Moynahan appears as Wick's late wife, Helen,[24] via archive footage from the first film. Sven Marquardt, an infamous German bouncer, appears as a Ruska Roma member named Klaus.[25][26] Retired sumo wrestlers Yoshinori Tashiro and Hishofuji Hiroki made appearances as the Osaka Continental gatekeepers.[27][28]
On May 20, 2019, Lionsgate announced John Wick: Chapter 4 via their opt-in "John Wick" text update service, writing, "You have served. You will be of service. John Wick: Chapter 4 is coming – May 21, 2021".[29] 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 theatres Memorial Day weekend 2022. We hope to shoot both John Wick 4 and 5 back to back when Keanu becomes available early next year."[30][31]
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 third film be successful.[32][33] 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."[29]
Stahelski later teased the fourth film in an interview with IndieWire by saying Wick would not end the fourth film with "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 for 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 , everything's okay? He's just going to fall in love with a love interest? If you're this fucking guy, if this guy exist, 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."[29][34] 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."[35] The studio opted to move on from series creator Derek Kolstad and instead hired Shay Hatten to write the script in May 2020.[36][37] In February, Stahelski brought Ricky Staub and Dan Walser on board to write the film after being impressed with their film Concrete Cowboy.[38] In March 2021, screenwriting duties were passed onto Predators screenwriter Michael Finch.[39]
The writing of the film was placed in the hands of Shay Hatten and Michael Finch. In an interview with Finch by Looper magazine, Finch stated that there were several previous films which influenced his writing stating: "A lot of this begins with Chad being inspired by other films, other genres of film, be it Once Upon a Time in the West, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or be it Bullitt or Dirty Harry or a Zatoichi film."[40] The role played by the blind assassin portrayed by Donnie Yen references the blind swordsman in the Japanese film series centred on the character of Zatoichi.[40] The name of the character Killa Harkan is a reference to Berlin-based Turkish rapper Killa Hakan.[41][42]
When the fourth film was announced, Reeves reported having begun his training course for John Wick 4 and The Matrix Resurrections.[43] In May 2021, it was announced that Rina Sawayama would make her feature film debut in John Wick Chapter 4.[16] She was selected due to the role requiring someone who can do choreography, and Stahelski had seen her music[44] videos for "XS" and "Bad Friend" that feature dance and fighting, respectively.[45] The following month, Laurence Fishburne,[46] Hiroyuki Sanada,[47] Donnie Yen,[48] Bill Skarsgård,[49] Shamier Anderson,[50] and Scott Adkins were cast in the film.[51] Sanada was initially courted to portray Zero in Chapter 3, but dropped out due to a torn Achilles tendon injury.[52][53] In July 2021, Lance Reddick was confirmed to be reprising his role as Charon,[54] and Ian McShane was confirmed to be reprising his role as Winston.[20] Clancy Brown joined the cast that August.[55]
Most of the weapons used in the film were chosen from stock and custom weapon design firms and were already in existence before filming.[56] 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.[57] The Bowery King when he arrives in Paris hands John a custom 21-round Pit Viper pistol manufactured by TTI.[56][58]
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.[59]
Principal photography began on June 28, 2021, on a $100 million budget, and took place in France, Germany, New York City, and Japan.[2][60] 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.[61] 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. The efforts of the location team were recognized by the Location Managers Guild International with their 2023 LMGI Award.[62] The top-down long take action sequence was inspired by the video game The Hong Kong Massacre and was filmed on a purpose-built set.[63] An alternate ending in which John visits his grave was filmed but abandoned after receiving a "violent reaction" from test audiences.[64]
Filming concluded on October 27.[65]
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. Nathan Orloff edited the film substantially to reduce the runtime to 169 minutes.[1][66] The film was originally subtitled Hagakure, to match Parabellum.[67]
Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard return to compose the score for the film, after doing so for the previous three films. The soundtrack album was released by Lakeshore Records on March 24, 2023.[68]
The movie features EDM tracks from widely-known artists in the genre, like Gesaffelstein and Justice,[69][70] as well as Le Castle Vania, whose work largely consisted of remixes of his work from the first two films. Most of the artists featured in the soundtrack are French, and therefore fit with the majority of the third act of the movie taking place in Paris.[71][72]
John Wick: Chapter 4 was released on March 24, 2023.[73]
Lionsgate officially announced the film in May 2019 during Parabellum's opening week, with a scheduled release date of May 21, 2021.[34][74][75] On May 1, 2020, IndieWire reported that the fourth film's release had been delayed to May 2022 by the COVID-19 pandemic and Reeves' commitments to The Matrix Resurrections, which had been slated for release on the same day as Wick 4. "The Matrix 4 was only four weeks in when this all happened"—that is, production was 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."[76]
The film's release was further delayed to March 24, 2023, in part to avoid opening against Top Gun: Maverick.[5][77] The film had its premiere at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London on March 6, 2023.[78] It also had a special screening at the South by Southwest on March 13, 2023.[79] It was released in South Korea on April 12, 2023.[80] The film was released in Japan as John Wick: Consequences.[81][82]
Vietnamese cinema authorities unofficially banned John Wick: Chapter 4 upon its release in Vietnamese cinemas due to the appearance of Donnie Yen, a vocal proponent of the Chinese government and its claim to parts of the South China Sea, including the Vietnamese-claimed Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands.[83]
John Wick: Chapter 4 was released digitally on May 23, 2023. The Blu-ray, 4K UHD, and DVD were released on June 13, 2023.[84] An extended cut was confirmed by the director on June 21, to be released at an unspecified date.[85]
John Wick: Chapter 4 grossed $187.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $253 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $440.1 million.[3][4]
In the United States and Canada, John Wick: Chapter 4 was projected to gross $65 million to 70 million from 3,855 theaters in its opening weekend.[86][87][88] The film made $29.4 million on its first day, including $8.9 million from Thursday night previews, the best of the series, and the best of any R-rated film released since March 2020. It went on to debut at $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 any R-rated film since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, with the latter record surpassing Halloween Kills.[89] Upon its debut, the film had the second-highest live-action opening weekend for a Keanu Reeves film, behind The Matrix Reloaded.[89] This also marked the year's second-highest opening weekend at the time of its release, after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.[89] The film made $28.3 million in its sophomore weekend (a drop of 61.6%), finishing second behind newcomer Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.[90] In its third weekend, the film made $14.6 million, again finishing second, this time behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie.[91]
Outside of the US and Canada, the film grossed $64 million from 71 markets in its opening weekend.[92] In its second weekend John Wick: Chapter 4 made $35 million from 75 markets.[93] The film grossed $21.5 million in its third weekend.[94] As of June 5, 2023, the highest-grossing territories were the United Kingdom ($21.1 million), Germany ($20.7 million), Australia ($16.6 million), South Korea ($15.2 million) and CIS ($14.2 million).[95]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 374 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. 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."[96] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 58 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[97] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the best of the series, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 93% positive score, with 82% saying they would definitely recommend it.[89]
Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, calling it "bigger, badder, bolder, longer, and featuring nearly more spectacular set pieces than one movie can comfortably handle, this epic action film practically redefines the stakes."[98] Tom Jorgensen of IGN gave the film a 10/10 score, describing it as a "modern epic" and "bursting at the seams with creative, thrillingly staged action choreography and cinematography" while giving particular praise to the performances of Reeves, Yen and Skarsgård.[99] In a five-star review for IndieWire, Rafael Motamayor praised the film as the "best American action blockbuster since George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road". He praised the additions to the franchise's "ludicrously complex" mythology, citing the film's grounded character relationships and cinematographer Dan Lausten's use of neon colors and his technique of shooting a single-shot fight scene.[100]
Chicago Sun-Times's Richard Roeper gave the film three out of four stars, writing "Somewhere inside the utterly unnecessary, bloated running time for John Wick IV, there's a brilliant, stripped-down, 100-minute classic of a drive-in action film, where the admittedly breathtaking action sequences don't grind on for so long that they become borderline tedious."[101] Richard Brody of The New Yorker was ambivalent on much of the film, but found that the "giddily intense, swoony, swashbuckling, and sensational" ending makes the rest of the film "worth sitting through".[102] The Daily Nebraskan's Evan Dondlinger highly praised the film, calling it "what all action movies should be", and hailed it as a "masterclass of stunt coordination, color in cinema and grand storytelling".[103]
Charles Bramesco of The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars, writing: "Those who appreciated the original for its brutal, sinewy agility have another thing coming: a lumbering, stultifying gargantuan of a film willing to kill everything except its darlings."[104] Reviewing the film for Consequence, Liz Miller gave the film a C+ and said: "Watching John Wick: Chapter 4 sometimes felt like watching an above-average assembly cut. At an unwieldy two hours and 49 minutes, your eye will immediately be drawn to what cuts through the noise – and there are plenty of these moments. But 'moments' does not a well-told 'movie' make."[105] Conversely, Nerdist's Michael Walsh hailed the film as one of the best action films ever made, remarking "By the time the credits rolled, I was ready to run through a brick wall. I had so much adrenaline pumping through me I wanted to bench-press a bus. The only other time I walked out of a theater feeling that way was Mad Max: Fury Road. John Wick: Chapter 4 isn’t just the best installment in the series. It's on the very short list of greatest action movies ever made".[106]
Award | Date of Ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Golden Trailer Awards | June 29, 2023 | Best Action | "Legend" (AV Squad) | Won | [107] [108] |
Best Sound Editing | "Peace" (TRANSIT) | Nominated | |||
Best Teaser Poster | "Hourglass Portrait" (AV Print) | Nominated | |||
Best Wildposts | "Illumicade" (AV Print) | Won | |||
Best Radio/Audio Spot (For a Feature Film or TV/Streaming Series) | "King" (Silk Factory) | Nominated | |||
Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Film Awards | June 30, 2023 | Best Picture | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Nominated | [109] |
Best Director | Chad Stahelski | Nominated | |||
Best Stunts | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Won | |||
Hollywood Professional Association Awards | November 28, 2023 | Outstanding Sound – Feature Film | Mark Stoeckinger, Andy Koyama, Casey Genton, Alan Rankin, and Manfred Banach (Formosa Group) | Won | [110] |
Location Managers Guild Awards | August 26, 2023 | Outstanding Locations in a Contemporary Film | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Won | [111] |
MTV Movie & TV Awards | May 7, 2023 | Best Fight | Keanu Reeves vs. Everyone | Nominated | [112] |
National Board of Review Awards | December 6, 2023 | Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry | Chad Stahelski and Stephen Dunlevy & Scott Rogers | Won | [113] |
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | December 10, 2023 | Best Editing | Nathan Orloff | Nominated | [114] |
IndieWire Critics Poll | December 11, 2023 | Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | 10th Place | [115] |
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | December 12, 2023 | Best Editing | Nathan Orloff | Nominated | [116] |
Las Vegas Film Critics Society | December 13, 2023 | Best Action Movie | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Won | [117] |
Best Stunts | Nominated | ||||
Indiana Film Journalists Association | December 17, 2023 | Best Film | Nominated | [118] [119] | |
Best Director | Chad Stahelski | Nominated | |||
Best Editing | Nathan Orloff | Nominated | |||
Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | Runner-up | |||
Best Stunt/Movement Choreography | Laurent Demianoff | Won | |||
St. Louis Film Critics Association | December 17, 2023 | Best Action Film | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Won[c] | [120] |
Best Stunts | Scott Rogers and Stephen Dunlevy | Runner-up | |||
Best Scene | "Fight on the 222 steps leading up to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris" | Runner-up | |||
San Diego Film Critics Society | December 19, 2023 | Best Stunt Choreography | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Won | [121] |
Best Visual Effects | Nominated | ||||
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards | December 21, 2023 | Best Supporting Actor | Donnie Yen | Nominated | [122] [123] |
Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | Won | |||
Astra Film and Creative Arts Awards | January 6, 2024 | Best Action Feature | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Won | [124] |
February 26, 2024 | Best Cinematography | Dan Lausten | Nominated | ||
Best Editing | Nathan Orloff | Won | |||
Best Publicity Campaign | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Nominated | |||
Best Sound | Nominated | ||||
Best Stunts | Won | ||||
Spotlight Award | Chad Stahelski and Stunt Team | Won | [125] | ||
Golden Globe Awards | January 7, 2024 | Cinematic and Box Office Achievement | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Nominated | [126] |
Seattle Film Critics Society Awards | January 8, 2024 | Best Action Choreography | Won | [127] | |
Austin Film Critics Association Awards | January 10, 2024 | Best Stunt Coordinator | Stephen Dunlevy and Scott Rogers | Won | [128] |
Houston Film Critics Society | January 22, 2024 | Best Stunt Coordination Team | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Won | [129] [130] |
Saturn Awards | February 4, 2024 | Best Action or Adventure Film | Nominated | [131] | |
Best Actor | Keanu Reeves | Nominated | |||
Best Production Design | Kevin Kavanaugh | Nominated | |||
Best Editing | Nathan Orloff | Nominated | |||
Best 4K Home Media Release | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Won | |||
ADG Excellence in Production Design Awards | February 10, 2024 | Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film | Kevin Kavanaugh | Nominated | [132] |
People's Choice Awards | February 18, 2024 | The Action Movie of the Year | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Nominated | [133] |
The Male Movie Star of the Year | Keanu Reeves | Nominated | |||
The Action Movie Star of the Year | Nominated | ||||
Visual Effects Society Awards | February 21, 2024 | Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature | Janelle Croshaw, Ralla Reina Sparks, Jonathan Rothbart, Javier Roca, Gerd Nefzer | Nominated | [134] |
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature | Joelle Xin Zhow, Fabrice Vienne, Vignesh Ravi, Laurent Makowski (for Place de L’Étoile) |
Nominated | |||
Outstanding Compositing and Lighting in a Feature | Javier Roca, Julien Forest, Thomas Bourdis, Dominik Kirouac (for Apartment Massacre Videogame Style) |
Nominated | |||
Screen Actors Guild Awards | February 24, 2024 | Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Nominated | [135] |
Golden Reel Awards | March 3, 2024 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Effects / Foley | Paul Soucek, Mark Stoeckinger, Luke Gibleon, Olivia Xiao'ou Zhang, Stephen Robinson, Gael Nicolas, Casey Genton, Nicolas Interlandi | Nominated | [136] |
ICG Publicists Awards | March 8, 2024 | Maxwell Weinberg Award for Motion Picture Publicity Campaign | John Wick: Chapter 4 | Nominated | [137][138] |
Critics' Choice Super Awards | April 4, 2024 | Best Action Movie | Won | [139] | |
Best Actor in an Action Movie | Keanu Reeves | Nominated | |||
Donnie Yen | Nominated | ||||
Best Actress in an Action Movie | Rina Sawayama | Nominated |
In 2023, Esquire named the film Reeves's seventh-best,[140] and Comic Book Resources and TheWrap named it that year's best action film.[141][142] In 2024, Collider named it the 13th-best action film of all time,[143] The Guardian named it Reeves's fourth-best,[144] and GamesRadar+ named it his second-best.[145]
A fifth film was originally intended to be shot back-to-back with Chapter 4.[31] However, by March 2021, after the COVID-19 pandemic affected production on the fourth film, these plans were no longer moving forward, with the Chapter 4's ending being reworked to conclude the series with Wick's death. 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's character, but eventually acquiesced.[6] Although Stahelski and Reeves insisted that Wick was dead, Lionsgate president Joe Drake later hinted at the possibility of a fifth film due to Chapter 4's "astonishing" box office,[146] while Stahelski stated he was open to a sequel.[147][148] In May 2023, Lionsgate president Joe Drake confirmed to investors that a fifth film was in development.[149]
Prior to Lance Reddick's death in March 2023, Reeves, McShane, and Reddick were planned to reprise their respective roles as Wick, Winston, and Charon in the upcoming film Ballerina,[150] a spin-off to the John Wick films set between the events of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4.[151] Also in development was a spin-off television series entitled The Continental: From the World of John Wick, which featured younger versions of several John Wick characters.[152] Yen has expressed interest in a spin-off centered on Caine,[153] which was eventually announced on May 15, 2024, with filming set to start in Hong Kong in 2025.[154]