After years of delays, followers will lastly get to see Ana de Armas try and put her stamp on the “John Wick” universe this June when “Ballerina” hits theaters.
First introduced in 2019, the brand new “John Wick” spin-off stars de Armas as a ballerina and murderer who seeks revenge on the individuals who killed her household. Set between the occasions of the third and fourth “John Wick” movies, the brand new film options franchise regulars together with Ian McShane, Angelica Huston, and Keanu Reeves himself. It additionally options an look from the late Lance Reddick, who shot the movie earlier than his passing in 2023. Norman Reedus, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and Gabriel Byrne additionally star within the movie.
“Ballerina” is written by Shay Hatten, and was initially an unrelated spec screenplay that Lionsgate acquired and reworked to suit it into the “John Wick” universe. After becoming a member of the Lionsgate fold, Hatten went on to co-write “John Wick: Parabellum” and “John Wick: Chapter 4.” However regardless of these movies’ successes, “Ballerina” has endured a troubled street to the large display.
“Ballerina” is directed by Len Wiseman, who initially shot the movie in late 2022. Nevertheless, the movie was delayed for a number of years and underwent important reshoots in 2024, which had been overseen by “John Wick” franchise stalwart Chad Stahelski.
“Ballerina” marks Lionsgate’s newest try and develop the franchise past the flagship sequence of movies that star Reeves as a deadly murderer working in a legal underworld that operates by way of a series of motels. “John Wick” has change into one in every of Lionsgate’s most profitable properties, however the studio hasn’t discovered a approach to efficiently monetize it with out Reeves entrance and middle. A Mel Gibson-led prequel sequence “The Continental,” which explored the origins of the eponymous motels, premiered on Peacock in 2023 to middling opinions. “John Wick 5” remains to be a risk, due to the ambiguous ending of the earlier movie. But when Stahelski managed to seize the franchise’s distinct mix of stylized motion and switch de Armas into an motion hero on par with Reeve’s John Wick, “Ballerina” may flip right into a lifeline for Lionsgate.
A Lionsgate launch, “Ballerina” opens in theaters on Friday, June 6. Watch the brand new trailer under.