'John Wick 4' Shoots The Pandemic In The Head, Finally Begins Filming

You could say that he's thinking he's back... again. Excitingly, we now know that the next installment in the smash-hit John Wick series has commenced filming today, courtesy of a John Wick 4 production update text sent to /Film. And we're certainly betting that star Keanu Reeves is in top fighting shape to unload countless headshots on some poor army of faceless goons while doing much of his own stunts. See the first image from the set of John Wick 4 below.

John Wick 4 has begun filming, the production announced courtesy of a text sent to an elite group of assassins. Just kidding, it was sent to a listserv for John Wick updates, with the message, "It's begun... Consider this a professional courtesy. John Wick: Chapter 4 is now in production."

Keanu Reeves returns as the title character in the fourth installment of the John Wick series. As usual, joining him will be director Chad Stahelski, albeit without franchise stalwart Derek Kolstad, who we previously reported has ceded scriptwriting duties to writers Michael Finch and Shay Hatten this time around. Nevertheless, production continues full-steam ahead and it won't be long now before the unstoppable assassin-turned-retiree-turned-assassin is back in action on the big screen.

Starting with the brutally great original back in 2014, the labyrinthian world of John Wick has expanded right alongside each installment's scope, scale, and budget. As you might expect from the globe-trotting franchise, production for the fourth film will take John Wick throughout Europe (specifically Berlin and Paris) and Japan in addition to his home base in New York City in his seemingly never-ending quest to find a modicum of peace and quiet.

As you remember, John Wick: Chapter 3 involved The High Table pulling its biggest move yet while on the warpath against our dog-loving hero and shockingly ended on the twist concerning the murky, unsettled allegiance between Wick himself and Winston (Ian McShane). Laurence Fishburne's Bowery King is already confirmed to return as another uneasy ally. The threequel was a return to form for the franchise, balancing the increased focus on world-building established in Chapter Two while maintaining the personal, character-centric nature of the original.

While we know there will be another film after John Wick 4 (and in my opinion, they can keep making these films for as long as Stahelski and Reeves have the story to support it), it will no longer be filming back-t0-back as originally planned. Nevertheless, casting announcements have been flying for John Wick 4. In addition to the established cast, it will add no less a coup of heavy-hitters than Hiroyuki Sanada, Bill Skarsgård, Donnie Yen, and Japanese-British pop singer Rina Sawayama.

John Wick 4 is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 27, 2022.