UPDATE: The release date for Ballerina has been pushed back a year from June 7, 2024 to June 6, 2025. The move comes as John Wick architect Chad Stahelski has inked a new deal with Lionsgate to oversee the franchise. He’s currently working with Ballerina director Len Wiseman on additional action sequences for the movie to make it even better.
SOURCE: Deadline
UPDATE: Ballerina is set to hit theaters on June 7, 2024!
SOURCE: 87eleven Production
UPDATE: The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus has joined the cast of Ballerina. In addition to Reedus, Catalina Sandino Moreno (Barbarians) has also joined the cast alongside franchise regulars Lance Reddick and Anjelica Huston, who are set to reprise their roles as Charon, the concierge at the Continental hotel and The Director, the head of a squad of elite black widow ballerinas.
Franchise star Keanu Reeves is also set to return as John Wick in Ballerina, but only for a few scenes as an extended cameo. Reeves confirmed his involvement during a panel at the Comic Con Experience in Brazil.
#keanureeves reveals new details about the #johnwick spin-off movie #Ballerina starring #AnadeArmas at #CCXP22. @collider broke the news he was in the film but we didn’t know how large of a role. Keanu said he’s only in a few scenes. pic.twitter.com/3o77XwrJ5c
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) December 4, 2022
SOURCE: Collider
UPDATE: It is now confirmed that Keanu Reeves will indeed return as John Wick in Ballerina! However, it is still not clear if his role is merely a cameo or a larger part. Joining him will be none other than Ian McShane, who is set to reprise his role as Winston.
UPDATE: Collider
UPDATE: Production on Ballerina is set to start rolling in Prague on November 7th in addition to other cities around the Czech capital and in the Czech Republic across the next three months through February 5th.
John Wick star Keanu Reeves has recently been spotted in Prague, which raised speculation that he may have a small role/cameo in Ballerina. Stay tuned for confirmation.
UPDATE: Prague Reporter
UPDATE: Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) is set to help screenwriter Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum) and director Len Wiseman write the script for Ballerina.
“It was really important for me to hire a female writer, because to that point when I got involved in the project, it was only the director, Len Wiseman, and another guy. And I was like, ‘That’s not going to work.’ So I interviewed, like, five or six female writers. We hired Emerald Fennell, which I was so proud of,” said De Armas.
SOURCE: Variety
UPDATE: Coming off her scene stealing role opposite 007 in No Time to Die, actress Ana De Armas has landed the lead role in Ballerina. De Armas will portray a young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family.
SOURCE: Deadline
UPDATE: Chad Stahelski recently spoke to THR regarding director Len Wiseman and his pitch for Ballerina stating:
“Having him [Ballerina director Len Wiseman] on board and approaching some of the action design from a slightly different perspective, meaning the set pieces, the character involvement, how and what he wants to do during the action sequences, makes it kind of fresh. So, we’re not just copying ourselves over and over again with gun-fu or something like that. And because the character is different, we’re going to get a different take on things. But as far as the level, the competence or the style of action? Yes. I plan to be there to assist whenever I can. And our 87eleven stunt team will be very actively involved in helping Len in all his action needs.”
He added: “He had a take that he wanted to pitch to (producer) Basil about how Ballerina fit into the John Wick world and how he could really spin it and put his taste on it. So, Basil and Thunder Road heard the pitch, and they wanted me to hear it. So, I went to dinner with Len, and he pitched me on his ideas and what he wanted to do with it. I already think he’s a really good director, and I think he gets the tone. I think he understands action, and I think he’s got a good visual style. And right off the bat, I was like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to get this guy. He gets it.'”
SOURCE: THR
UPDATE: Len Wiseman (Live Free Or Die Hard) has signed on to direct Ballerina.
No stranger to female-driven actioners, Wiseman is the man behind the bullets mayhem of the vampire/werewolves franchise Underworld.
John Wick star Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski will serve as producers alongside Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee.
No news yet on who will star, so stay tuned for more details.
SOURCE: Deadline
In addition to The Continental TV series and a fourth installment of John Wick, Lionsgate is planning on expending the Wick universe even more with a female-centric spin-off titled Ballerina.
Ballerina is described as a mix between Luc Besson’s classic La Femme Nikita with the hyper-stylized feel of a Quentin Tarantino or Matthew Vaughn type of film-making. The plot follows “a young woman raised as an assassin who must hunt down the other assassins that murdered her family.”
The film is produced by Basil Iwanyk (John Wick) with a script written by Shay Hatten (Maximum King!). A director is yet to be named.
SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter
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