British actor Bill Nighy has signed on for a role in Caine. Lionsgate’s newest John Wick spinoff is being directed by martial arts master Donnie Yen. Nighy’s role remains undisclosed at this time.
The John Wick franchise began with the original film in 2014, followed by three sequels: Chapter 2 (2017), Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019), and Chapter 4 (2023). Collectively, the films have earned more than $1 billion worldwide. What started as a simple revenge thriller became one of action cinema’s most respected franchises.
Spinoffs have steadily expanded the universe, including the prequel TV miniseries The Continental (2023) and the spinoff film Ballerina (2025). Caine marks the next step outward, this time handing the lead to a fan-favorite character rather than building backward.
Yen, who appeared as the titular blind assassin in John Wick: Chapter 4, is also toplining the feature, which is now in production in Budapest and Hong Kong. In a dual role as an actor and director. It gives Caine a distinctly different energy from the Stahelski-led mainline films.
Caine
The story follows the events of Chapter 4, with Caine having been freed from his obligations to The High Table, the council that runs a global empire controlled by elite crime families. Freedom, though, comes with complications.
Also on the call sheet are Mason Thames (The Black Phone) and Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things), as well as Rina Sawayama, who is reprising her role as Akira. In Chapter 4, Caine killed Akira’s father, Shimazu Koji, during his pursuit of John. In the film’s final moments, Akira was shown approaching Caine with a knife to exact revenge.
Nighy’s franchise credentials run deep. He played Davy Jones in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films. He also played Viktor in three Underworld movies and Howard Clifford in Detective Pikachu. He’s also well known for Living, Hot Fuzz, and Love, Actually, the former earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Mattson Tomlin, writer of the upcoming The Batman Part II, wrote the script with Michael McGrale. Caine is being produced by John Wick veterans Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee of Thunder Road. Filmmaker Chad Stahelski, through his 87Eleven Entertainment banner, is also producing.
Principal photography was initially planned to begin in 2025 but was later postponed to April 2026. Filming commenced in Budapest on April 25, 2026, and is set to continue in Hong Kong in late June.
Caine isn’t just another spinoff. A fifth mainline installment remains in the works, and earlier this year the director confirmed that a new direction for the story was taking shape that would make a return from Reeves work. With Caine actively shooting and Chapter 5 quietly developing, the John Wick universe shows no signs of slowing down.
