John Wick Game On The Way?
Lionsgate CEO John Feltheimer says the studio is considering offers to make a John Wick game.
After the announcement of John Wick 4, the upcoming sequel to the Baba Yaga franchise, and the television series that’s currently in development, Lionsgate is looking to expand the John Wick franchise with a video game. And we’re not discussing the previously released John Wick Hex, an action-oriented strategy game, but rather a AAA title based on the franchise. According to IGN, Lionsgate CEO, John Feltheimer, mentioned that the company is considering game proposals, though nothing is certain at this moment.
However, he did express his personal belief that a AAA gaming title could be made out of John Wick but considering that Lionsgate is still pondering the idea, he can’t make an official statement about whether there’s actually going to be a John Wick video game.
However, considering that video games and cinematic and television adaptations have a bad history together, we have to wonder whether such a game should be made.
And the answer is a unanimous “yes,” John Wick movie series features plenty of hand-to-hand and firearms violence, which would feel right at home in a video game medium. Admittedly, this could be a good idea for several reasons. The gaming industry has finally surpassed the movie industry, as seen by the recent release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, which turned out to be this year’s biggest opening in the entertainment industry. Not to mention that Lionsgate certainly has the budget necessary to make a AAA game.
Lastly, the film’s premise would fit nicely within a video game; an ex-assassin on a vendetta to avenge his dog. Admittedly, we’ve seen senseless narratives with AAA titles before, but the purported game likely isn’t going to be a 1:1 adaptation similar to those made by Activision during the 2010s. Those were horrible, and Activision — the first and oldest independent third-party video game development and publishing studio — finally distanced itself from adapting movies into games.
The character of John Wick, portrayed by Keanu Reeves — who also starred in Cyberpunk 2077 — remains a prominent figure in pop culture. The franchise spawned three films since 2014, with the fourth one coming out in March 2023 if everything goes according to plan. That release window would be perfect for the release of John Wick AAA game, but it would seem that one is being considered at the moment but not actively developed by any gaming studio.
Apart from its cinematic success, John Wick made guest appearances in numerous gaming releases, including Fortnite and Payday 2. Its portraying actor, Keanu Reeves, isn’t a stranger to video game appearances as well; he starred in The Matrix games and the previously mentioned Cyberpunk 2077, which also received a DLC recently, and an animated television show set in the same universe. So, reprising his role as John Wick in an AAA gaming title of the same name wouldn’t really be a novelty for Keanu Reeves.
Adding a AAA John Wick video game to the franchise would be a natural evolutionary step in the franchise’s growth, and once that would be gladly accepted by gamers on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
