‘John Wick: Chapter 4,’ ‘Knives Out 2’ begin production

The much-awaited fourth instalment of Keanu Reeves-fronted franchise “John Wick” has officially started production.

The announcement was made by Hollywood studio Lionsgate in a post on Twitter on Monday.

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“Anybody got a pencil sharpener? ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ is now in production,” read the post from the studio’s official handle.

Reeves and filmmaker Chad Stahelski are returning for the new movie in the action franchise after collaborating on three earlier parts. The Hollywood star, who is returning to play the titular assassin, is joined by Donnie Yen, Rina Sawayama, Shamier Anderson, Bill Skarsgard and Hiroyuki Sanada in the latest instalment.

The film also mark the return of Ian McShane as Winston, Lance Reddick as Charon and Lawrence Fishburne as The Bowery King.

According to Collider, the movie will be shot in Berlin, Paris, Japan, and then back to the franchise’s home base of New York City. It will be released worldwide in May 2022.

Meanwhile, “Knives Out 2”, the much-anticipated sequel of the hit 2019 murder mystery, has also begun production in Greece, director of the film Rian Johnson has announced.

Johnson, who also serves as the writer on the follow-up, took to Twitter to share an update on the film.

“Aaaaaaaand WE’RE OFF! Day one of filming on the next Benoit Blanc mystery. “Thanks to all the lovely patient people here in Greece for letting us do all this murdering on their peaceful shores (sic)” the director wrote on the microblogging site.

The sequel will see Daniel Craig reprise his role of the master sleuth Benoit Blanc from the original film.

Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr, Kate Hudson, Madelyn Cline and Jessica Henwick are the new cast members. Johnson is also producing with Ram Bergman under their T-Street banner.

The original “Knives Out”, which had a humble budget of USD 40 million, grossed USD 311.5 million at the global box office. The sequel was announced in February 2020 and Netflix bought the rights to two sequels for more than USD 450 million in March this year.

While the streamer has released some of its prominent titles as limited theatrical releases, it is currently uncertain how the release of the “Knives Out” sequels will be planned.