Keanu Reeves’ New Extended ‘Matrix 4’ Schedule Could Spell Trouble For ‘John Wick 4’

As film production prepares to slowly open up across Europe, there hasn’t exactly been a rush from Hollywood to jump-start stalled projects. Until now.

According to Deadline, Warner Bros. is already making moves to resume filming for The Matrix 4 in Germany beginning in July. The studio has reportedly locked down eight-week contract extensions from the cast, which includes Keanu Reeves. In theory, this extension will make up for the time lost when production on the fourth Matrix film was forced to abruptly shut down in March. Of course, that all hinges on production resuming smoothly in July, which is not at all certain given the different variables involved in protecting cast and crew from the still active COVID-19 virus while also not spreading it to the local community.

Reeves signing an extension for The Matrix 4 will undoubtedly have repercussions for John Wick 4. In April, Wick director Chad Stahelski explained to Collider that the fourth installment in the assassin film series is essentially on hold until Reeves finishes filming The Matrix, so there’s no way he can even begin to nail down a release date.

“Between how much we want to expand the John Wick — let’s just call it a ‘franchise’, I guess — and the pandemic, I couldn’t tell you a release date for the next one. I mean, Matrix was only four weeks in when this all happened. So, Keanu’s gotta go finish his commitment up on The Matrix, which is a big deal and which I think will probably take him until the end of the year. Then we have to go into our prep mode… Release dates, who knows right now.”

As of this writing, The Matrix 4 is still scheduled for a May 21, 2021 release date, but maybe don’t get your hopes up just yet.