Keanu Reeves Confirms John Wick 3's Official Title
Leave it to the John Wick franchise to tack an extra-cool title onto its third installment.
Speaking in an interview with ComingSoon in the midst of filming the third John Wick film in New York, star Keanu Reeves confirmed that the movie is officially titled John Wick 3: Parabellum. This blends together the standard, assumed John Wick: Chapter 3 name with something more meaningful.
"It's both! John Wick 3: Parabellum," Reeves stated. "It's part of that famous sentence, 'Si vis pacem, para bellum,' which translates as, 'If you want peace, prepare for war.'"
"Parabellum" can also allude to a type of semiautomatic pistol (the Pistole Parabellum, known in the U.S. as a Luger) and a World War I machine gun (the Parabellum MG 14) — which are still appropriate references since, you know, John Wick really loves guns.
Such a title is extremely fitting for the impending film, given that Reeves' John Wick will be running off to New York City after being excommunicated from the esteemed Continental Hotel in Rome. The untouchable assassin made the biggest misstep one could and kind of, sort of, maybe definitely murdered someone on establishment grounds — the one thing Continental patrons should never, ever do — and was thus cut off from its services.
With the blanket of protection the Continental once provided him now ripped from his existence, John is desperate to find safety — and, more importantly, to slip out of the reach of everyone looking to kill him and claim the $14 million bounty on his head. If John wants peace, he must prepare for war. Si vis pacem, para bellum, indeed.
Beyond following John as he makes a mad dash toward shelter and security, John Wick 3: Parabellum will see the eponymous hit man brush shoulders with a bundle of new faces — most notably Halle Berry's Sofia, who has both key information for and a storied past with John. Together, Sofia and John get tangled up with the High Table, "this kind of overlording entity," as Reeves described it to ComingSoon. Members and associates of the High Table include Asia Kate Dillon's Adjudicator, Anjelica Huston's Director, Mark Dacascos' Zero, and Jason Mantzoukas' Tick Tock Man.
John Wick 3: Parabellum also features returning franchise stars Laurence Fishburne as Bowery King, Ian McShane as Winston, Lance Reddick as Charon, Ruby Rose as Ares, Common as Cassian, and Hiroyuki Sanada as what's said to be the film's main villain. Tiger Hu Chen, Yayan Ruhian, and Cecep Arif Rahman top off the cast.
Directed by Chad Stahelski, who works from a script penned by Derek Kolstad, John Wick 3: Parabellum is slated for a May 17, 2019 release.