Entertainment studio Lionsgate is going to expand its enormous John Wick franchise by spinning off a second TV series, one that continues directly from the end of John Wick 4. Deadline reports that the ludicrous, long-running fight scene will extend to smaller screens in John Wick: Under The High Table.
Exec produced by the movies’ main star, Keanu Reeves, and with a first episode directed by the helm of all four films, Chad Stahelski, they’re certainly bringing star power in some sense. However, it’s also reported that Reeves is only signed on in a production role, not an acting one.
Having tried to watch 2023’s interminable John Wick 4 twice now, the biggest news here for me is that it has an end. I love the first three films, albeit without having the faintest idea what was actually going on, but good lord, I wasn’t watching for the slow, plodding conversations. Still, end it must eventually have, because this TV show will continue the story after Wick’s meddling with the elite crew of crime bosses, the High Table, and a sort of reset on the whole assassin-organizing regime. And, well, if you’ve seen it, you’ll know the other major issue.
It’ll apparently feature the old guard attempting to reclaim the High Table for themselves, while a group of newbies attempt to step in and mould things to their own liking, which will provide the vital inner turmoil. However, what it won’t feature is John Wick.
This will be the second televised outing for the franchise not to feature its main character, the first being a three-episode limited series The Continental: From the World of John Wick, that aired on Peacock in 2023. However, that at least alluded to its tangential nature. “John Wick: Under The High Table” is clearly asking us to just accept the character’s name is also now some “Lego”-like franchise name, but it’s hard to imagine many will read it that way.
And this is just a fraction of forthcoming John Wick-related output. Currently a fifth main movie is in pre-production, while a Len Wiseman-fronted spin-off movie, John Wick Presents: Ballerina is due in June, 2025. There’s also yet another movie in the early stages, which will continue the events shown in John Wick 4’s post-credits scene, focusing on Donnie Yen’s character, Caine. Oh, and there are already plans for a Ballerina sequel. Good gravy.
For those who haven’t kept up, the first three John Wick movies are about a guy whose puppy gets killed prompting him to go on a 364-minute killing spree. Then the fourth film is about the man falling down a flight of stairs, sort of. Hopefully the new TV show will remember to keep talking to a minimum, and fighting to a maximum. There’s no word on a network yet, but it’s perhaps pertinent that Lionsgate owns Starz.
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