It stars Keanu Reeves as the title character, alongside an ensemble supporting cast including Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Anjelica Huston, and Ian McShane.
Principal photography began that month and lasted through that November, with filming locations including New York City and Casablanca.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum had its premiere at the Regal Union Square in New York City on May 9, 2019, and was released in the United States on May 17, by Lionsgate.
[8][9][10] John Wick is on the run in Manhattan after he was labeled "excommunicado" for the unauthorized killing of High Table crime lord Santino D'Antonio on Continental grounds.
John meets with The Director, the head of the Ruska Roma crime syndicate, to whom he presents a rosary and demands safe passage to Casablanca.
Meanwhile, a High Table Adjudicator meets with New York Continental manager Winston and the Bowery King, notifying them that they both have seven days to resign from their positions as a consequence of helping John.
When Sofia refuses to give Berrada one of her trained Belgian Malinois in return for his help, he shoots the dog, but hits its bulletproof vest.
Winston reassumes his position, and the severely injured John is secretly delivered to the Bowery King in an underground bunker; the two agree to join forces against the High Table.
In October 2016, Chad Stahelski, who made his directorial debut with John Wick and served as Reeves' Matrix stunt double,[11] stated that a third film in the John Wick series was in the works,[12] and in June 2017, it was reported that Derek Kolstad, who wrote the two prior films, would return to write the screenplay.
[14] According to Reeves, the film's title was taken from the famous 4th-century Roman military quote "Si vis pacem, para bellum", which means, "If you want peace, prepare for war.
"[15] In an interview with the New York Times, McShane said that the film would be big and good and that nothing is the same while also hinting that part of the action could be the High Table's payback not only on Wick but also on his close friend Winston.
[17] Later, it was revealed that Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, and Lance Reddick would reprise their roles from previous John Wick films.
[18] In May 2018, Halle Berry, Anjelica Huston, Asia Kate Dillon, Mark Dacascos, Jason Mantzoukas, Yayan Ruhian, Cecep Arif Rahman, and Tiger Chen joined the cast.
[18][22][23] Cinematographer Dan Laustsen was asked about how challenging it was to use as many extended fight scene takes as possible while filming the high action screenplay.
[30] In the United States and Canada, Parabellum was released alongside A Dog's Journey and The Sun Is Also a Star and was initially projected to gross $30–40 million from 3,850 theaters in its opening weekend.
The website's critical consensus reads, "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum reloads for another hard-hitting round of the brilliantly choreographed, over-the-top action that fans of the franchise demand.
[42] Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling it "a work of pop cinema so blissfully, albeit brutally, entertaining that you come out of it feeling even more resentful of its multiplex neighbors for not making a similar effort.
"[43] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of "A−", writing that "as gorgeously choreographed, gratuitously violent action movies go, it's high art".
[44] Wendy Ide of The Observer gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a flying kick to the senses" and writing that "The spectacular third installment in Keanu Reeves's fighting franchise overwhelms with opulent martial arts set pieces".