Keanu Reeves is no stranger to starring in some of the greatest action movies ever made having already appeared in Point Break, Speed and The Matrix, but even the actor himself must have been a little surprised by the massive success of John Wick. After a lean few years where he’d found critical and commercial adulation hard to come by, Wick looked like just another generic actioner and was written off by many as exactly that.
However, once audiences had a chance to check out the sharp-suited assassin for themselves, they were blown away by the jaw-dropping set pieces and fight choreography, not to mention a stellar performance from a leading man comfortably back in his element. The first installment drew widespread praise and raked in $88 million on a $20 million budget and just like that, a new franchise was born.
Chapter 2 almost doubled the takings of its predecessor after bringing in $171 million, and Chapter 3 continued those phenomenal gains by earning over $326 million, firmly elevating John Wick into blockbuster territory. All told, the series has brought in $587 million on combined production costs of $115 million and averaged an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 72 on Metacritic, making it one of the most profitable and critically acclaimed brands in the industry.
The fourth entry is set to start shooting once Reeves finishes work on The Matrix 4, with spinoff movie Ballerina and TV show The Continental also in the works, and in a recent interview, the 55 year-old gave a hugely encouraging answer when he was asked how long he saw himself playing the title character.
“As far as my legs can take me. As far as the audience wants to go.”
A crossover with Atomic Blonde has also been rumored as a possibility, and with John Wick set to run for what you’d imagine to be five movies at the very least, if audiences don’t start to grow tired of the franchise, then we could be seeing Reeves continue to suit up for a while yet.