Many John Wick fans have been wondering what the third franchise film would be titled, and it may have just been revealed.
The title of the new film is listed as John Wick: Chapter 3 Para Bellum, according to Production Weekly.
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No official confirmation has been made at this point, but if true this would be an interesting, albeit ominous, title.
In Latin, the term “Parabellum” means “prepare for war.” It is derived from the phrase, Si vis pacem, para bellum, which translates to, “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
The insinuation here seems to be that everyone’s favorite canine-avenging hitman is not just facing off against a handful of gangsters or gun-toting baddies, but possibly a mob army of some kind.
It is also possible that this is simply a new working title for the film. The previous working title for John Wick 3 was listed as Alpha Cop.
There is no indication as to what “Alpha Cop” might allude to, but with Keanu Reeves‘ Wick taking on an underground gang of criminals in both the first two movies, we can speculate that perhaps Wick will finally meet his match in some type of law enforcement officer.
The first film was simply tiled John Wick, and the second John Wick: Chapter 2, so while all these sub-titles make for fun speculation it stands to reason that the new film may eventually be officially titled John Wick: Chapter 3, but that is unconfirmed.
In addition to Reeves, the first John Wick film also starred Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe.
John Wick Chapter Two kept Leguizamo and McShane, but added Common, Laurence Fishburne, Riccardo Scamarcio and model-actress Ruby Rose. Both films were directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Derek Kolstad, and both of them are tapped to return to their respective roles.
John Wick came out in 2014 and was received by an overwhelmingly positive critical response. It currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 86 percent Fresh.
Rolling Stone Magazine’s Peter Travers raved, “John Wick is the kind of fired-up, ferocious B-movie fun some of us can’t get enough of,” and also praised the juicy performances” from Dafoe, Leguizamo, and McShane.
John Wick Chapter 2 hit theaters in 2017, and received even higher praise than its predecessor, landing at an 89% Fresh score and earning a Rotten Tomatoes “Critics Consensus” that reads, “John Wick: Chapter 2 does what a sequel should — which in this case means doubling down on the non-stop, thrillingly choreographed action that made its predecessor so much fun.”
At this time, the only other confirmed information for the third film is that it is scheduled to be released May 17, 2019.
