Lionsgate has announced that John Wick 5 is in the works and will be shot back-to-back with John Wick 4, which will begin filming early next year when Keanu Reeves becomes available.

Per Deadline, the studio's CEO Jon Feltheimer addressed its hit franchise during an earnings call, stating “We’re also busy preparing scripts for the next two installments of our John Wick action franchise, with John Wick 4 slated to hit theaters Memorial Day weekend 2022. We hope to shoot both John Wick 4 and back to back when Keanu becomes available early next year.”

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Image via Lionsgate

Lionsgate is currently slated to release John Wick 4 on May 27, 2022 -- one year later than originally scheduled. The studio is already developing a TV series around the Continental Hotel, which would premiere sometime in between the fourth and fifth movies. Normally, I'd be bitching and moaning about the fifth film in an action franchise, but I happen to love the John Wick franchise, and besides, look what happened with Fast Five.

Reeves is no stranger to shooting sequels back-to-back, having done the same thing with the Matrix sequels, which kept him busy from March 2001 to August 2002. I think it's safe to assume that we'll be seeing a lot more back-to-back shoots as the months progress. Meanwhile, Reeves is currently shooting The Matrix 4 in Germany, having only completed four weeks of filming when the production was forced to shut down due to the pandemic.

Chad Stahelski, the keeper of the John Wick flame along with writer Derek Kolstad, will once again return to direct, and apparently he and Reeves hatched the idea for John Wick 4 while promoting John Wick 3 – Parabellum. He also hinted that part of John Wick 4 may or may not take place underwater, which would be super cool, and since the film was dealt a year-long delay, there's even more time to prepare that ambitious plan. To watch our Collider Connected interview with Stahelski, click here.