“We have been fielding proposals. We certainly are interested in moving that forward,” CEO Jon Feltheimer said during Thursday’s earnings call.
Keanu Reeves in “John Wick”
Courtesy Everett Collection
Lionsgate is flirting with the potential of a major video game based on the “John Wick” action franchise, the studio’s CEO let slip on Thursday.
During an earnings call with investors, Jon Feltheimer noted that Lionsgate execs have been “fielding proposals” for a big video game based on the Keanu Reeves movies. Despite his excitement at the idea, Feltheimer was hesitant to say much more about the early-stages project: “I don’t want to get ahead of myself here, but we believe there is a big AAA game to be made out of ‘John Wick.’ We have been fielding proposals. We certainly are interested in moving that forward, but I don’t want to say anything more about that at this time.”
Given that each of the three movies have been box-office hits — all featuring some of the most genre-defining, stylized action and gun-fu around — a sprawling action game seems like a natural fit for John Wick’s character and story. There already is a “John Wick” video game that exists, of course; Mike Bithell’s independent “John Wick Hex” which was released in 2020 and re-imagined the gunman’s fighting as a strategy game akin to gunfire chess. But Feltheimer mentioned a AAA game: something that would require a sizable budget, but that eager fans have been demanding for years.
While discussing the potential for future “John Wick” properties, Feltheimer remarked that the filmmakers behind the series have done an incredible job of not just “keeping a franchise alive and important” but in making each movie “more and more valuable.” While 2014’s “John Wick” grossed $86 million on a $20 million budget, the sequels have only gotten bigger as the cult of Wick and Reeves grows. “Chapter 2” made $171 million worldwide, and the most recent film “Chapter 3 – Parabellum” made $327 million worldwide. “Chapter 4” is slated for release on March 24, 2023.
In other “John Wick” news, the Ana de Armas-starring spinoff movie “Ballerina” kicks off production next week. Additionally, it was announced Thursday that the prequel series “The Continental” will be available to stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video internationally, while domestic viewers can watch via Peacock. That series is set in the ’70s and focuses on Ian McShane’s character in the films — as now played by Colin Woodell — as he attempts to seize control of the iconic hotel that serves as a haven for assassins in the “John Wick” movies.
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