TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT... JOHN WICK 3

Yeah — we’re thinking he’s back

1__ When last we saw the world’s best-dressed assassin, in 2017’s

John Wick: Chapter 2 , he had just been made ‘excommunicado’ by his criminal underworld superiors, a $14 million bounty on his head. The third film in the series picks up immediately afterwards, with Mr Wick (Keanu Reeves) on the run. It’s currently filming, and slated for a May 2019 release date.

2__ This third entry carries the curiously grandiose title of John Wick 3: Parabellum. That apparently comes from the Latin phrase, “Si vis pacem, para bellum,” which translates as, “If you want peace, prepare for war.”

3__ Chad Stahelski, who co-directed the first Wick and solo-directed the second, is back in the director’s chair to complete the trilogy. “The whole purpose of John Wick: Chapter 2 was to get us into John Wick 3,” Stahelski has said.

4__ The world of the mysterious High Table — the upper council of international crime bosses — will be explored further here. “I’d like to expand the world maybe another 25 per cent,” Stahelski told Empire last year.

5__ Keanu Reeves has teased a faceoff between the High Table and the Continental, the hitman hotel headed by Winston (Ian Mcshane). “Maybe John is the activator of this confrontation, and perhaps there’s a war?” Reeves told Empire in 2017. “Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

6__ Mcshane has been confirmed to reprise his role as Winston, with Lance Reddick and Laurence Fishburne also returning as Charon and The Bowery King, respectively.

7__ Newcomers to the cast include Halle Berry as Sofia, a figure from Wick’s past; Anjelica Huston as The Director of the High Table; Billions’ Asia Kate Dillon as The Adjudicator, and Jason Mantzoukas as the pleasingly named Tick Tock Man. Martial arts stars Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman (The Raid 2) and Tiger Hu Chen (Man Of Tai Chi) are on assassin duties.

8__ Keanu Reeves, known for doing his own stunts, was spotted galloping on horseback through the streets of Brooklyn last month, being chased by a machine gun-wielding motorcyclist. Dressage, this ain’t.

9__ The events of the film will run parallel to the in-development TV spin-off The Continental, due to air in 2019 on the Starz US network. “The show and the movies exist side by side,” Starz president Chris Albrecht has said.

10__ Stahelski has suggested it’s not going to end well: “How else can this end? There’s no happy ending! He’s going to kill everyone!”