John Wick: Chapter 3 has entered pre-production, and casting on the film is due to begin soon. John Wick is the movie that made audiences fall in love with Keanu Reeves all over again, with the star being cast as a legendary hitman who comes out of retirement following a brutal robbery. Reeves was perfectly cast in the title role, the action was slick and stylish, and the film did a great job of crafting its criminal underworld and all of its strange customs.

John Wick: Chapter 2 up the stakes in every way, with more action, characters, backstory and - of course - a higher bodycount. The film ended with an almighty cliffhanger too, which perfectly set the stage for one more film. It didn’t take long for the third entry to get a greenlight, and it's now due to arrive in time for summer 2019.

Related: John Wick 3 Gets a Release Date

According to Omega Underground, screenwriter Derek Kolstad has completed the script for John Wick: Chapter 3, and the film has now formally entered the pre-production phase. No solid story details have been revealed but the film will likely pick up shortly after the ending of part two, and according to director Chad Stahelski, it would delve into John’s backstory some more. Casting is also due to commence soon, and while no decisions have been announced yet, Reeves previously stated that he would love to have Tilda Swinton involved in the franchise.

John Wick 2 poster - Reload (cropped)

Part of what makes the action of John Wick so exciting is that it’s clearly Keanu Reeves doing the vast majority of the stunts himself, be it the fight sequences or the car chases. Reeves has to train vigorously for every fight scene, and as filming on Chapter 3 isn’t due to being until summer 2018, that should give the star plenty of time to practice his moves.

It seems progress on the third movie was slightly delayed due to the busy workloads of the original John Wick's co-directors. David Leitch is currently working on Deadpool 2 and Chad Stahelski is developing a Highlander reboot. Leitch was too busy on Charlize Theron vehicle Atomic Blonde to resume co-directing duties on John Wick: Chapter 2, but he still had a heavy creative role in the production; in fact, Reeves and Theron trained together for their respective movies.

For these reasons, the studio has decided to wait so Leitch and Stahelski can give John Wick: Chapter 3 their full attention. Now that their schedules are a bit more open, you can expect more concrete John Wick-related updates to arrive in the foreseeable future.

MORE: John Wick TV Show Has A Working Title

Source: Omega Underground

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