Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and subsequent production shut down on Warner Bros.' The Matrix 4, Lionsgate was forced to push back filming on John Wick 4 into next year as franchise leading man Keanu Reeves was suddenly unavailable for the rest of 2020.
However, it appears as though the extended pre-production has been good for the team and has really gotten the creative juices flowing for Reeves and director Chad Stahelski, as they've turned their shoot for one sequel into two.
On yesterday's investor's earnings call, Lionsgate CEO John Feltheimer officially announced John Wick 5 and confirmed plans to shoot the fourth and fifth installments in the critically acclaimed action series back-to-back at the top of 2021 - once Reeves' extremely busy schedule clears up.
“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 & 5 back to back when Keanu becomes available early next year.”
The decision to shoot the two sequels back-to-back isn't exactly an unprecedented move for big-budget actioners, and has often been done to cut production costs since they can film continuously with the same crew in place. Also, in this scenario, the studio's decision to shoot both films together may have been influenced by what a post-pandemic world could look like for film productions across the globe, and potentially having two John Wick films in the bag is always more appealing that having just one.
The next two installments in Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible franchise are also currently shooting back-to-back; a tactic Marvel Studios recently implemented to film Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.