It's official, everyone's favorite dog-loving assassin is closing out the franchise in the summertime. Lionsgate has handed out a May 17, 2019 release date for John Wick 3, which has already been confirmed to be the final John Wick movie. It seems that Lionsgate is really swinging for the fences with this final installment, giving it a plum summer date after releasing the first two movies during fall and winter months that aren't nearly as lucrative.

Deadline reports that, as of now, John Wick: Chapter 3 is the only movie slated for release on May 17, 2019, but there are some huge movies already slated to open during that month. Marvel will kick off the summer 2019 movie season with Avengers 4 on May 3, 2019, with TriStar's The Rosie Project and STX's Uglydoll arriving on May 10. Also arriving on May 24, 2019 are Disney's Aladdin remake and Warner Bros.' Minecraft. While this is certainly an incredibly competitive field to be dumped in the middle of, John Wick has flourished in the face of heavy competition before.

John Wick opened to a modest $14.4 million in October 2014, coming in second place behind the horror-thriller Ouija, which won the weekend with $19.8 million. While John Wick wasn't a runaway blockbuster, it had an instant cult following, taking in $43 million domestic and $88.7 million worldwide, from a $20 million budget. While those numbers certainly didn't set the world on fire, the modest success and critical acclaim lead to a John Wick sequel, which could have very easily flopped, opening against The LEGO Batman Movie and Fifty Shades Darker this past February. While it did come in below both of those movies, its $30.4 million opening was more than double its predecessor's debut, en route to a $92 million domestic take and $171.5 million worldwide, although no budget figures were disclosed.

While there isn't much known about the story thus far, Samuel L. Jackson revealed in a March interview that he would much rather do John Wick 3 than a Nick Fury movie for Marvel. There has been no indication as to whether or not Samuel L. Jackson is being seriously considered for any type of role in John Wick 3, but it certainly is an intriguing possibility. Back in November, director Chad Stahelski confirmed that the third movie would not only bring back Keanu Reeves as John Wick, but also Ian McShane's character Winston, who owns the Continental Hotel, and Lance Reddick, who plays the hotel's concierge, Charon.

Director Chad Stahelski revealed in May that John Wick 3 may shoot this year, revealing that they were working on the script in hopes of getting it ready to shoot either late this year, or early next year. Now with a May 2019 release date in place, it will afford director Chad Stahelski and writer Derek Kolstad, who has written the first two movies, more time to create a fitting ending for John Wick. Hopefully Keanu Reeves and the filmmakers will be sharing more details about the sequel soon, now that a release date is intact.