Although Lionsgate wants the John Wick franchise to continue, a recent report suggests that fans shouldn’t hold out hope for its return in the near future.

John Wick is one of the biggest action franchises in the world of cinema and continues to get better with each installment. The latest entry, John Wick: Chapter 4, turned out to be a massive success at the box office and garnered universal acclaim from the critics as well. Since the release of the fourth film, fans have been wondering how the makers would continue telling more stories about the hitman. Recently, reports revealed that Lionsgate is already developing a fifth film in the franchise, with Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves teaming up once again for another installment. However, production on the film may not begin anytime soon.

According to a Collider report, the filming for the fifth movie in the John Wick universe will not start in 2025, despite similar rumors. It has already been made clear by Lionsgate that Stahelski will direct the upcoming film, meaning the franchise won’t return to the big screen until the filmmaker has finished his ongoing projects. As of now, the director is busy writing and directing the Highlander reboot. The shooting of the reboot will start next year in Scotland, with Henry Cavill playing the lead role. So, it’s quite evident that the director of the John Wick series will return to the franchise once he is creatively free to give his time to the franchise.

John Wick: Chapter 4 concluded with an epic battle between the retired hitman and every good that was present in the city of Paris. After facing countless adversaries, John Wick finally confronted the Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) in a high-stakes duel, outsmarting his opponent in a nail-biting showdown. Yet, this hard-won victory came at a steep cost. The hit man, seemingly gravely injured, staggered away, leaving viewers to wonder if he had succumbed to his wounds. The uncertainty surrounding his fate only deepened with a post-credits scene where Akira (Rina Sawayama), driven by a thirst for revenge over her father’s death, approached Caine (Donnie Yen) with a knife in hand, hinting at future conflicts and untold stories in the John Wick universe. For the uninitiated, Yen will reportedly continue to be a part of the series and star in a spin-off film.

Apart from that, the John Wick universe is set to expand through a film, titled John Wick Presents: Ballerina. The movie will star Ana de Armas in the lead role and chronicle the journey of a young female assassin trying to take revenge on the people who killed her family. Additionally, a series is also in the works and will take the franchise in new directions. But it’s understandable why fans are rooting for a John Wick movie. When the first film was released in 2014, no one had the idea that it would be so successful. However, the film series kept on getting better and better with time, spawning three sequels. The franchise is not only hit with the critics but with audiences as well and has earned more than $1 billion at the global box office. The return of Reeves and Stahelski for the fifth movie will surely excite fans and give them an idea of how the hitman will come back after such a grueling last encounter with the evil foes.