The first official trailer for the fourth instalment in Keanu Reeves’ bloodthirsty revenge series John Wick has finally dropped. Following a landmark premiere at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), production house Lionsgate threw down the gauntlet again, unveiling a one-minute John Wick 4 teaser, complete with exotic locations, insane choreography and a plot that (presumably) isn’t overly critical. With the film set to release in cinemas on 24 March, 2023, why change the formula, right?
John Wick 4 Trailer
With the release of the first John Wick 4 trailer, we get a glimpse of just how ambitious the instalment plans on being. Crossing borders and taking viewers on a whirlwind trip through the US, France, Japan, Jordan and Germany, the teaser sees Reeves tasked with the unenviable duty of taking down the High Table, picking up immediately where the third film left off. Fans will remember the last instalment finished with a wounded Wick unwillingly joining forces with Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King in an effort to clear his name and bring order to the assassin world.
John Wick (Keanu Reeves) takes on his most lethal adversaries yet in the upcoming fourth installment of the series. With the price on his head ever increasing, Wick takes his fight against the High Table global as he seeks out the most powerful players in the underworld, from New York to Paris to Osaka to Berlin.
John Wick 4 Plot
John Wick: Chapter 4 sees Keanu Reeves reprise his role as the titular hitman with heart, with franchise mainstays Fishburne, Ian McShane and Lance Reddick all back along for the ride. Joining them will be Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson and for the first time in the series, IT heartstopper Bill Skarsgård. The new film will once again be helmed by director Chad Stahelski, who previously discussed what fans can expect from the bruising new encounter.
“I think Chapter 4 is a good continuation of all three previous films, and it’s got a bit of a conclusion to it, which is great,” he told Collider in a May interview. “We introduce a ton of new characters that have a lot to say about John Wick from his past and from, obviously, present. I think it’s brotherhood, it’s hope. It’s what the life would really be like as a bit of an existential crisis with John, and I think that’s the fun part of the movie.”
John Wick 4 Production Update
For fans of the action franchise, the trailer announcement has been a long time coming, Production for John Wick: Chapter 4 officially kicked off back in 2021, with filming taking place in a multitude of locations. Originally slated for a 2022 release, Lionsgate made the difficult decision to postpone the premiere in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Stahelski confirmed the final product is trademark Wick action.
“Keanu’s got some new skill sets, which is good. He’s got some new props, which are great,” he told Collider. “We were fortunate enough to land some very interesting stunt teams from all over the world. And each stunt team from the different countries, the Japanese stunt team, the French stunt team, the Bulgarian stunt team, they all have a little bit of flavour of motion, and I think that helps change the set pieces as well. When you get all these different experts and different martial arts, it forces us to adapt the choreography to show different things. It’s fun.”
John Wick 4 Initial Reviews
At the time of writing, the first three John Wick films are all sitting at certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning they all have above an 85% on the aggregate review site and the initial critic response for John Wick Chapter 4 is looking promising. Variety‘s Courtney Howard had nothing but praise for the new instalment, tweeting that the film “brilliantly balances vested stakes with an absolutely spectacular, high octane thrill ride. A soaring, searing, scorching chapter in the saga. The wildest time you’ll have at the movies this year. A pure adrenaline rush.”
Howard then adds that the supporting cast truly shine as an integral part of the film’s success. “Donnie Yen: as sharp & swift as ever. Hiroyuki Sanada: amazing. Marko Zaror: an unrelenting beast. Scott Adkins does deep character work. The way Rina Sawayama doesn’t break eye contact while tossing off her kimono gave me goosebumps.” Cinemablend assistant managing editor Eric Eisenberg also praised the film despite initial worries that the three-hour runtime would hinder the quality of the overall experience.
“I had reservations about John Wick: Chapter 4‘s nearly three-hour runtime, but the movie earns it. It’s an epic with smart pacing that never lets the action feel exhausting, and the set pieces are phenomenal. Great cast of series newcomers, but Donnie Yen is the MVP.”
And with early responses for John Wick Chapter 4 as positive as they gets, hype for any and all other projects set in the same franchise are now even more hotly anticipated. There’s the spinoff movie Ballerina, a film that will see Ana de Armas take centre stage, with Reeves and McShane also set to reprise their roles in the spinoff film. In addition to this brand new spinoff outing for the franchise, a limited series based in the John Wick universe titled The Continental is also set to premiere sometime in 2023. John Wick Chapter 4 is set to release in theatres on March 24, 2023.
Spin-Offs
In addition to the upcoming sequel, Lionsgate also confirmed a spin-off film called Ballerina, with Bond girl Ana de Armas set to tackle the lead role, while the much-discussed spinoff series, The Continental is set to premiere on Starz with Colin Woodell portraying a younger version of McShane’s Winston Scott. We previously reported that Oscar-winner and action legend Mel Gibson is also set to join the series, bringing some massive star power to the small screen. John Wick: Chapter 4 will be released in theatres on March 24, 2023. You can watch the first official trailer for the much-anticipated new action flick above.
