While there have been several movie franchises that seemed ripe for video game adaptations, the John Wick series has felt like a particularly major example of missed opportunities. During a recent earnings call, however, Lionsgate chairman Adam Fogelson revealed that the studio has been exploring opportunities for AAA games, adapting movie franchises like John Wick and horror series Saw.
As spotted by Tech4Gamers, Fogelson pointed to an increased interest in adapting John Wick. However, no real details about these adaptations and opportunities have been confirmed. “Our AAA game opportunities and other gaming opportunities around John Wick and Saw and some others that we’ll be announcing soon,” said Fogelson.
John Wick is a series of fast-paced action movies that revolve around the titular protagonist, played by Keanu Reeves, who gets pulled back into his past life as an assassin after the death of his wife and dog. The franchisee has seen four movie releases so far, along with a spin-off, dubbed Ballerina. When it comes to games, Wick has only gotten one to himself—2019’s tactical strategy game John Wick Hex—which has since been delisted from all storefronts. The character has also made guest appearances in other titles, namely Fortnite and Payday 2.
John Wick Hex, developed by Bithell Games, only adapted the characters and world of the John Wick franchise. The story was entirely original, and while Keanu Reeves didn’t return to play the titular character, the title still featured other cast members of the movies, including Lance Reddick and Ian McShane. For more details about John Wick Hex, check out our review, where we gave it a score of 7 out of 10 thanks to its precise, tactical gameplay and fun story. Our major complaints at the time included technical issues, frustrating gameplay sections, and wonky animations.
It is worth noting that this is far from the first time that Lionsgate has spoken about a triple-A John Wick game. CEO Jon Felthimer had spoken about fielding proposals for one such project back in November 2022, and while he didn’t reveal too many details at the time, he believed there was potential for a big AAA John Wick game. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself here, but we believe there is a big AAA game to be made out of John Wick,” he said. “We have been fielding proposals. We certainly are interested in moving that forward, but I don’t want to say anything more about that at this time.”
The subject popped up once more in May 2023, with Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group president Joe Drake noting that there was a host of projects based on John Wick in the works. These projects extended beyond the AAA game space, he said, and into things like movie and TV spin-offs.
“We’re now moving across that franchise, not just in the AAA video game space, but looking at what the regular cadence of spin-offs, television, really growing that universe so that there is a steady cadence of a franchise that there’s clear appetite by the audience,” said Drake.
