John Wick: Chapter 4 movie

A movie about a hitman avenging his dog has transformed the blockbuster franchise. How? World-building.

[close to $70 million](https://variety.com/2023/film/news/box-office-john-wick-4-opening-weekend-projection-record-1235561254/), an impressive bow in this period after Covid-19 theater closures. [interviewed Reeves and Stahelski](https://www.wired.com/story/keanu-reeves-chad-stahelski-interview/) for this month’s magazine cover story, Stahelski noted that not having “60 years of Batman to work from” meant that while his franchise didn’t have those broad shoulders to stand on, nothing was holding him back from making his hero look the way he wanted. Not bad for a series spawned from the death of a hitman’s dog. Superhero flicks are fun as hell, but their action is more sanitized, laden with CGI and ultimately beholden to the tropes of comics in a way the Wick franchise is not. John Wick is just based on the fact that people like to watch Keanu Reeves fight and shoot guns and do car chases—and that’s OK. [$14 million domestically](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1482524161/). (Seriously, click the Guide button from your cable provider at any hour and you’re about as likely to see Reeves shooting people in a black suit as you are to see the gang at Central Perk on Friends.) John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum [made $56 million](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt6146586/?ref_=bo_se_r_1) in North America when it opened. Back when [Keanu Reeves](https://www.wired.com/story/keanu-reeves-chad-stahelski-interview/) first started showing interest in John Wick, a lot of people involved were [nervous](https://www.vulture.com/2017/02/how-john-wick-became-the-decades-most-unusual-action-movie.html) that killing a puppy was taking things too far. Meanwhile, the Wick films offer a more adult-friendly alternative to superhero movies. From the ground up, albeit with spare parts. Yet, after Reeves brought on directors [Chad Stahelski](https://www.wired.com/story/keanu-reeves-chad-stahelski-interview/) and David Leitch to do just that, the film—and its three sequels, including this week’s John Wick: Chapter 4—went on to prove just how popular that premise could be.

In John Wick 4, Keanu Reeves' unstoppable assassin brings his fight to the very top of the food chain, revealing that the franchise has had one true target ...

Just as in the real world, in John Wick’s story, wealth and power have a way of self-perpetuating, and mostly trickling upward to a privileged few. His puppy isn’t coming back, and the wife that puppy symbolized for him isn’t coming back. And yet, as the movies have stressed before and continue to stress here, the idea that his violence might achieve anything is dubious. John Wick has murdered his way across the world and up the social ladder. All of which makes the John Wick movies an accidental commentary on wealth as violence: John Wick’s sin isn’t just getting out of the game, it’s returning to assassination and thinking he can just go back to exerting his privileges under the High Table without reintegrating himself into its strict economy of lives and debts. He’s not out to save the world, and he’s not interested in the morality of his actions. The idea being sold from the first John Wick onward is that in his world, someone can walk into a building, slide a token across a desk, and expect absolute deference and premium luxury. Chapter 4 continues to show Wick bringing his vendetta to the people who command violence and profit from it without ever participating in it. As with so many broad genre constructions, the High Table can stand in for any number of things: the real-world 1 percent, domineering religious orders, or political regimes that gild oppression with the veneer of democracy. There is catharsis in watching him mow down the rich, even if he isn’t ideologically opposed to them. In his world, even the lowliest street thugs can compete for multimillion-dollar assassination bounties, but for the actual players — men like John and the assassin elite who want him dead — money isn’t a concern. The business of murder is an honorable one in these films, buttressed with rules and ensconced in luxury, to distinguish its practitioners from “the animals,” as hotelier-to-the-assassins Winston (Ian McShane) repeatedly says.

The fourth installment of the Keanu Reeves-led franchise was released by Lionsgate on March 24 and is being called the best yet.

See our [latest prediction champs](https://www.goldderby.com/best-prediction-scores/awards/league-data/). [the 2023 Emmy nominees through July 12](https://www.goldderby.com/leagues/) [Make your predictions](https://www.goldderby.com/leagues/) at Gold Derby now. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our [famous forums](https://www.goldderby.com/forums/) where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Download our free and easy app for [Apple/iPhone devices](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1460576753) or [Android (Google Play)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pmc.goldDerby) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. [IGN Movies](https://www.ign.com/articles/john-wick-chapter-4-review) states, “It is the longest John Wick movie. And while Tom Cruise snags the biggest headlines for his death-defying work in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ movies, it’s hard to watch ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ and not admire the anguish of Keanu Reeves.” A fair point in addition to the fact that Reeves is in top form once more. But it wouldn’t be quite the same without [Reeves].” It is the most John Wick movie. Greenblatt concludes, “Like James Bond, John Wick may eventually transcend the idea of just one man. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes. And again. John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table.

John Wick is the latest long-running action franchise to reach a four-film milestone. Others include Mad Max and The Matrix.

[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull](https://collider.com/tag/indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/) was the then true final act of the Indiana Jones franchise. [Lethal Weapon 3](https://collider.com/tag/lethal-weapon/), [Lethal Weapon 4](https://collider.com/tag/lethal-weapon/) acted as the true finale for the [Lethal Weapon](https://collider.com/tag/lethal-weapon/) series of films. [Jason Bourne](https://collider.com/tag/bourne/) movie not featuring the titular Jason Bourne, The Bourne Legacy was still able to prove itself by providing the same enticing and thrilling action as previous films. The film is [set to release this upcoming March](https://collider.com/john-wick-4-release-date-cast-plot-filming-details/) and helps continue to cement the John Wick franchise as one of the defining action franchises in recent memory. While it left audiences and critics mixed on how to feel about it, it's the type of film that is sure to gather a cult following in the years to come. Even with the film's PG-13 rating, the film acted as a return to form for the franchise for a number of critics and audiences. [Fast and Furious](https://collider.com/tag/fast-and-furious/) franchise as a whole has taken some massive leaps in insanity and popularity in recent years, and the fourth installment, [Fast & Furious](https://collider.com/tag/fast-furious/), may just be the start of this trend. While the film is much more incredulous and unbelievable with its action set pieces, it makes for a film that is as equal parts entertainingly thrilling as it is mindless fun. [Mad Max](https://collider.com/tag/mad-max/) franchise, Fury Road picked up 10 nominations at the 2016 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and ended up winning 6 awards. In many ways, Fast & Furious could be considered the true follow-up to the events of the first [The Fast and the Furious](https://collider.com/tag/the-fast-and-the-furious/). He soon escapes imprisonment thanks to the new character Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron), and the two join forces in a mad chase to escape the clutches of Immortan Joe and his army. This trend even seems to be continuing with the highly anticipated [Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1](https://collider.com/tag/mission-impossible-7/).

The director Chad Stahelski narrates a sequence involving John Wick in combat with Caine, a blind assassin.

“Donnie Yen is an amazing martial arts performer,” he said. In “Anatomy of a Scene,” we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series on Fridays.

Retired hitman John Wick has always looked like a video game protagonist. His movies are packed with multi-stage levels…

Frogger, for those uninitiated in the ways of the dastardly dodging amphibian, is a 1980s arcade game in which a frog dodges traffic as it crosses a road. Stahelski resists the temptation to repeat the trick and go top-down for this one, but Wick's triumphant trot along the Arc de Triomphe is just as intense as Frogger can be. Either way, it acts as a wonderful meta nod to the video game that perhaps best suits John Wick. It was no surprise, then, to see John Wick mods pop up for the Hotline Miami games when fans realised the similarities and got to work. My favourite scene in John Wick: Chapter 4, though, doesn't just look inspired by Hotline Miami, it looks like Hotline Miami. The John Wick movies are often compared to Dennaton Games' top-down shooter Hotline Miami, and with good reason.

Keanu Reeves returns in 'John Wick: Chapter 4' as the classic hitman in the hugely successful Lionsgate movie franchise.

Fury of the Gods](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/shazam-fury-of-the-gods/). [Keanu Reeves](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-chapter-4-ending-keanu-reeves-explained-1235355285/) once again stars as the expert assassin nicknamed Baba Yaga. The cast also features Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Rina Sawayama, Ian McShane and [the late Lance Reddick](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lance-reddick-remembered-john-wick-four-premiere-1235356559/), who died earlier this month. Its current critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes rests at an impressive 96 percent, the best ranking of any John Wick title (the three previous pics all hovered in the mid-to-high 80 percent range). By Sunday, that number should be north of $700 million. One challenge: John Wick 4‘s running time is just shy of three hours, meaning fewer show times. [Subscribe Sign Up](https://cloud.email.hollywoodreporter.com/signup/) The film is produced by Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee and Stahelski. [Chad Stahelski](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/john-wick-filmmaker-chad-stahelski-sequels-oscar-stunt-snubs-firearms-1235343132/), the film is jam-packed with the usual mayhem, violence, balletic physicality and morbid humor that have come to define the action franchise. [John Wick: Chapter 4](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/john-wick-chapter-4-review-keanu-reeves-1235347803/) shot up the Thursday evening [box office](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/box-office/) with a huge $8.9 million in previews. John Wick took in a global total of $86.1 million; John Wick: Chapter 2 grossed $174.3 million; and John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum hit $328.3 million. [Share this article on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-4-box-office-thursday-previews-1235359935/&title=Box%20Office:%20‘John%20Wick%204’%20Blazes%20to%20$8.9M%20in%20Thursday%20Previews&sdk=joey&display=popup&ref=plugin&src=share_button&app_id=1153511048447777) [Share this article on Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-4-box-office-thursday-previews-1235359935/&text=Box%20Office%3A%20%E2%80%98John%20Wick%204%E2%80%99%20Blazes%20to%20%248.9M%20in%20Thursday%20Previews&via=thr) [Share this article on Email](mailto:?subject=thr%20:%20Box%20Office:%20‘John%20Wick%204’%20Blazes%20to%20$8.9M%20in%20Thursday%20Previews&body=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-4-box-office-thursday-previews-1235359935/%20-%20Box%20Office:%20‘John%20Wick%204’%20Blazes%20to%20$8.9M%20in%20Thursday%20Previews) [Show additional share options](#) [Share this article on Print]() [Share this article on Comment](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-4-box-office-thursday-previews-1235359935/#respond) [Share this article on Whatsapp](whatsapp://send?text=Box%20Office:%20‘John%20Wick%204’%20Blazes%20to%20$8.9M%20in%20Thursday%20Previews%20-%20https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-4-box-office-thursday-previews-1235359935/) [Share this article on Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=1&url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-4-box-office-thursday-previews-1235359935/&title=Box%20Office:%20‘John%20Wick%204’%20Blazes%20to%20$8.9M%20in%20Thursday%20Previews&summary&source=thr) [Share this article on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-4-box-office-thursday-previews-1235359935/&title=Box%20Office:%20‘John%20Wick%204’%20Blazes%20to%20$8.9M%20in%20Thursday%20Previews) [Share this article on Pinit](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-4-box-office-thursday-previews-1235359935/&description=Box%20Office:%20‘John%20Wick%204’%20Blazes%20to%20$8.9M%20in%20Thursday%20Previews) [Share this article on Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool/preview?shareSource=legacy&canonicalUrl&url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-4-box-office-thursday-previews-1235359935/&posttype=link&title=Box%20Office:%20‘John%20Wick%204’%20Blazes%20to%20$8.9M%20in%20Thursday%20Previews)

Keanu Reeves' "John Wick: Chapter 4" is targeting a franchise-best opening weekend gross.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Creed III” is also in a tight race with “Shazam!” and “Scream,” projecting about $8 million in ticket sales in its fourth weekend of release. “Fury of the Gods” looks to push its North American gross to roughly $45 million after the weekend. The self-branded slasher “requel” is projecting an $8.8 million gross for its third weekend, showing staying power with a 49% drop from its last outing. Paramount and Spyglass Media’s “Scream VI” could end up topping “Fury of the Gods” for second place. But with an opening weekend that already looks to outperform original estimates and strong word-of-mouth buzzing among fans, the weeks ahead look bright for “Wick.” The “John Wick” series has achieved a consistent growth that most modern Hollywood franchises can only envy, beginning with a storyline written from scratch and following with a series of entries that have each proven to be bigger than the last.

Parsing the meaning behind the post-credits scene and ending of 'John Wick: Chapter 4,' in which Keanu Reeves's character dies.

This is why he pretty much has to disappear off the face of the Earth. And maybe even we have to believe that John Wick is dead. On the question of God and an afterlife, John has remained noncommittal in the past. This is precisely the fate that John wants to avoid. At ten paces, Caine fires before John and gets him in the side of the belly. John has played by the Table’s rules, the very rules he’s been accused of breaking for several films now, and prevailed. But Caine, who has been trying to kill John Wick throughout the film, also happens to be John’s friend. Remember, he was the one who rescued John Wick at the end of John Wick: Chapter 3, after our hero took what must be one of the most spectacular falls off a building in movie history and everyone thought he was dead. A final duel fought according to the High Table’s ancient codes has, over the course of Chapter 4, been built up as the one thing that could liberate John for good. Even if he isn’t, that’s a hell of an idea to introduce right at the end, relating to a character who is presumably dead and gone forever. We see Caine, now re-retired and supposedly free of all his obligations as a hired assassin, walking to listen to his violin-virtuoso daughter as she plays in a crowded outdoor plaza. And there’s a hint of it as we see the dog turning off-screen.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is on track to deliver a franchise-best opening weekend as it opens with $29 million at the Friday box office.

Fury of the Gods](https://collider.com/tag/shazam-2/) took the brunt of the blowback. [barring Shazam 2, of course](https://collider.com/shazam-fury-of-the-gods-review/). [Creed III](https://collider.com/tag/creed-3/) will take the fourth spot with a projected $8.3 million on its fourth weekend, for a running domestic total of $140 million. [John Wick: Chapter Two](https://collider.com/tag/john-wick-2/) grossed $171 million worldwide after a $30 million opening weekend, and the first film — [John Wick](https://collider.com/tag/john-wick/) — made $86 million worldwide in 2014, after a $14 million opening. Sony’s science-fiction dinosaur film [65](https://collider.com/65-movie-review-adam-driver/) will probably take the fifth spot with a projected $2.9 million third weekend, after $775,000 on Friday. After debuting with an [underwhelming $30 million](https://collider.com/shazam-fury-of-the-gods-domestic-box-office-30-million/) last weekend, the DC superhero sequel is looking at a hefty drop in weekend two, and is currently projected to make $9 million after a $2.5 million second Friday. While each movie in the series has been received warmly, John Wick 4 is the [best-reviewed](https://collider.com/john-wick-chapter-4-review/) of the lot, currently sitting at a 95% “fresh” rating on review aggregator [Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/john_wick_chapter_4). [John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum](https://collider.com/tag/john-wick-3/)’s $56 million opening weekend in 2019. [Scream VI](https://collider.com/tag/scream-6/) might even outperform Shazam 2 once the dust settles. With a $29.4 million Friday, including $8.9 million from [Thursday previews](https://collider.com/john-wick-4-box-office-previews/), John Wick 4 is eying a franchise-best $70 million-plus opening weekend. [Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves](https://collider.com/keanu-reeves-chad-stahelski-john-wick-chapter-4-staircase-stunt-paris/) as a ruthless assassin, who goes on the run from contract killers operating under the umbrella of a sinister organization. This is on the higher end of [projections](https://collider.com/john-wick-chapter-4-global-box-office-projection/), which ranged from $65 million to $70 million heading into the film’s first weekend.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is packed with deaths and action, but it also includes a variety of Easter eggs and hidden details that could be missed.

John Wick 4 gives Keanu another opportunity to fight some bad guys in the middle of a club, this time as he attempts to finish the job that will get him back in the good graces of his family. The franchise revealed in John Wick 3 that The other painting in the Louvre that receives the most screentime is a famous piece known as The Raft of the Medusa. Mission: Impossible - Fallout had Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt speed through the location on a motorcycle, but John Wick 4 has Keanu Reeves' character drive in the opposite direction of traffic in his car. A staple of the John Wick movies has been seeing Keanu Reeves' character punch, stab, and shoot his enemies in the middle of a rave. The worldbuilding in John Wick 4 included introducing the fourth Continental featured in the franchise by visiting Osaka, Japan. The fascinating aspect of this detail is the implication that even someone as high ranking in the High Table as the Harbinger once had to reprove his loyalty to the cause and cut off one of his fingers in the past. A surprise comes early in John Wick 4 when it is quickly mentioned that The Elder from John Wick 3 died. There are a few teases of John Wick's family in John Wick: Chapter 4 that refers to details established before. The bounty on John Wick's head increases well beyond where it is in John Wick 3. A moment in John Wick 4 reveals that John's wedding ring is missing now. It is mentioned that the Elder whom John Wick encountered before is now dead and has been replaced by a new individual played by George Georgiou.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is packed with references to everything from silent film comedies to film noir.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is as much a sendoff to the titular character as it is a sprawling, epic love letter to the masters of filmmaking over the last century. John Wick is also as much a noir as it is an action movie, as John must search within the lower levels of each city to follow a complex series of clues that lead him to his next target. This is a part of the reason John Wick: Chapter 4 is so constantly thrilling; between Paris, Berlin, New York, and Osaka, each new location is more complex and layered than the previous one. The reverence for Asian performers is evident, as John Wick: Chapter 4 gives us the chance to see legendary action stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Donnie Yen duke it out in an epic brawl. [Akira Kurosawa](https://collider.com/best-movies-akira-kurosawa-letterboxd/)’s classics Yojimbo, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, and Rashomon all share. In Modern Times, The Tramp goes on a wild quest just to give a girl flowers, and in John Wick: Chapter 4, Reeves spares Mr. It’s hard not to think of Keaton’s classic The General, a film that takes place during a nonstop war, when watching John Wick: Chapter 4 because every location introduces new assassins and enemies. However, the John Wick saga has influences of its own, and [John Wick: Chapter 4](https://collider.com/john-wick-chapter-4-review/) pays tribute to the extensive history of action cinema that has come before. However, John Wick: Chapter 4 goes beyond the series’ initially simple premise into a grandiose homage to 100 years of artistry. John has been excommunicated by the High Table, and the only way to clear his name is by challenging Marquis to a duel. John Wick: Chapter 4 is easily the biggest, boldest, and most emotional installment in the series thus far. [John Wick](https://collider.com/tag/john-wick/) was initially hailed as [Keanu Reeves](https://collider.com/tag/keanu-reeves/)’ comeback vehicle, but in the near decade since its release, the film has proven to be much more than that.

The duo discussed in length several reasons why the character should come back a third time. john-wick-4-keanu-reeves-social Image via ...

They do that because usually, movies open a little later in the country, and when they do press tours there, they already know how the movie [fared in the American territory](https://collider.com/john-wick-chapter-4-global-box-office-projection/) and if the studio intends to greenlight a sequel. [Ana de Armas](https://collider.com/tag/ana-de-armas/) which also features Keanu Reeves' participation. [wins his duel](https://collider.com/john-wick-chapter-4-ending-explained/) against High Table member Marquis (Bill Skarsgard), the injuries sustained in the duel end up taking the best of him. Of course, that brings on the question of [where the franchise can go](https://collider.com/john-wick-chapter-4-ballerina-ana-de-armas/) without its title character if Lionsgate decides to greenlight John Wick 5. [meaningful location](https://collider.com/john-wick-chapter-4-akira-character-poster-rina-sawayama/) for the fourth installment. [John Wick: Chapter 4](https://collider.com/tag/john-wick-chapter-4/) may seem like brainless action flicks that the studio just wants to put out with no regard for story, we often ignore that there is a thought process behind it and screenwriters and directors look at a potential sequel from our perspective.

John Wick: Chapter 4's Rina Sawayama took some convincing to take on the role of Akira, the Osaka concierge, because she had never acted before.

Sawayama is a singer and dancer, though because of the more action-oriented roles associated with the John Wick franchise, Stahelski was more interested in casting her because of her dancing capabilities. [casting in ](https://screenrant.com/john-wick-chapter-4-cast-character-guide/) [John Wick: Chapter 4](https://screenrant.com/john-wick-chapter-4-cast-character-guide/) so interesting is that it will be the first time she has ever acted in a film. After the day, we all got together in the office later that night and said, 'Do you want to give it a go?' And she said, 'Yes.' She spent four or five weeks with the stunt team. [I said], 'Hi, I'm Chad; I'm the director of John Wick.' And she was like, 'Oh, I like those movies.' I was like, 'That's good; how would you like to be in one?' And there was a little awkward silence. Her role in the movie is compounded by the fact that she is the daughter of Shimazu Koji, the manager of the Osaka Continental and an old friend of John's. [John Wick: Chapter 4](https://screenrant.com/tag/john-wick-4/) director Chad Stahelski revealed that Akira actor Rina Sawayama took some convincing to join the latest sequel in the John Wick franchise.