"John Wick 2," the highly-anticipated sequel to last year's action flick starring Keanu Reeves as a melancholy ex-hitman who comes out of retirement to avenge the death of his puppy, will start filming this fall, Thunder Road announced on Wednesday as part of the announcement of their upcoming film "Outlaws Inc," according to Entertainment Weekly.
"In the follow up to last year's adrenaline-fueled revenge and redemption thriller," reads the sequel's plot synopsis, "legendary hit man John Wick is back."
With a production budget of only $20 million, "John Wick" earned more than $78 million at the worldwide box office. Keanu Reeves will be back to reprise the lead role in "John Wick 2," which was officially announced by Lionsgate earlier this year. The film will be helmed by the duo behind the original, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski and screenwriter Derek Kolstad will also return to pen the sequel, IGN reported.
"With such tremendous fan and critical support for 'John Wick,' we knew that there was still so much more of this story to tell," Lionsgate's President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions said in May, according to Coming Soon. "We are thrilled that Keanu, David and Chad have re-teamed with us and promise to bring audiences even more excitement the second time around."
Jason Constantine and Eda Kowan at Lionsgate will oversee "John Wick 2" on behalf of Lionsgate. The film does not have an official release date yet.
Last month, Lionsgate announced that it would be developing a "John Wick" virtual reality video game in partnership with Starbreeze, as HNGN previously reported.
