Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake had much to celebrate this morning as the studio reaped a record global and domestic box office debut for the John Wick franchise with John Wick: Chapter 4 making $137.5M WW and $73.5M.
The fourthquel was the best received John Wick of all-time with audiences (A CinemaScore) and critics (95% certified fresh).
The movie is arguably the second best global opening for Reeves after The Matrix Revolution’s $201.4M. Despite Chapter 4 being the arguable swan song of Reeves’ martial arts maestro title character in the core canon, Drake tells Deadline today, “We’re not ready to say goodbye to Keanu with this franchise, it’s what alternative there will be.” Reeves already confirm before a rapturous SXSW audience that he’ll be back for the John Wick spinoff, The Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas and directed by Len Wiseman.
But the hope by Drake is that there’s even more for Reeves left in the canon. “There’s a lot of different things that we can do,” Drake adds. “I’ve seen this movie five times in the last week,” the exec says, “I can see the way that the audience movies him.” In regards to when we’ll see The Ballerina, Drake tells us a 2024 date is planned, in either the spring or summer.
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