We’re gonna have to wait quite a while longer for the next John Wick movie. Lionsgate announced today that it is shifting the John Wick 4 release date to May 27, 2022, nearly a full year after its previous release date of May 21, 2021.

Keanu Reeves reprises his role as John Wick in the fourth film of the franchise, and Chad Stahelski—who directed the previous three films—returns to take the helm. But this release date shift isn’t terribly surprising. John Wick 4 had not yet begun production when Hollywood was shut down over coronavirus concerns, and even when things pick back up again, Reeves has to finish shooting The Matrix 4.

Indeed, Stahelski recently told Collider during our most recent Collider Connected live interview that Reeves had only completed about a month of filming on The Matrix 4 before production was shut down, and that when things pick back up again, Reeves has to finish both Matrix 4 and stunt prep work for John Wick 4 before filming on the next John Wick movie can begin. Hence, a release date delay of a full year.

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Image via Lionsgate

Stahelski told us during the same interview that he and Reeves hatched the idea for John Wick 4 while promoting John Wick 3 – Parabellum, and added that there’s a possibility the franchise could even go beyond a fourth movie in some way:

I think we were in Japan, and Keanu goes, ‘I think I got one more left in me,’ and we had one idea we didn’t use which we really loved and we have to cut it out of number three [Parabellum], just didn’t have the space for it. So we’re like, ‘Okay, we’ll do a fourth. That’s gonna be awesome. We’ll make a plan.’ The studios […] went, ‘We totally get what you’re trying to do.’ We submitted an idea or thematic [plan] and it was really big. So, we’re talking about doing a little bit more than a [John Wick 4], or something like that, and trying to develop that. We’ll see how that goes.”

Stahleski also hinted that part of John Wick 4 may or may not take place underwater, which certainly would be a stunt arena the franchise has not explored yet. He’s currently working hard on the script, but with the new release date it sounds like he’ll have a little bit more time to get things in tip-top shape.

For much more on the John Wick franchise, The Matrix 4 and more, watch our extended interview with Stahelski and David Leitch right here. And for Lionsgate's other new release date shifts including the new Saw movie, click here.