Ana de Armas is set to lead the upcoming action film.
Ballerina, the eagerly-awaited John Wick spin-off, has been delayed by 12 months. The news is particularly crushing given the anticipation for the film’s release but there’s a twist — series creator Chad Stahelski is boarding the movie alongside director Len Wiseman to shoot more action scenes for the film now that they’ve got more time to make the film right.
Deadline reports that Lionsgate is already high on the picture, with advance tracking said to be particularly impressive, but they just want to take the time to make it even better. Ana de Armas takes the lead in the film, alongside a host of returning faces from the Wick franchise, including Keanu Reeves alongside de Armas, Ian McShane, Gabriel Byrne and the late Lance Reddick.
The film is set between the events of John Wick 3 and John Wick 4, as McShane explained to Collider’s Robert Taylor last month, which is why Reeves is able to appear in the film, given that his character met something of a definitive fate — not that it’s stopped Lionsgate from announcing that they were in “early development” for a fifth installment.
This one is set in between John Wick 3 and John Wick 4, because Keanu is in it, too. You didn’t want to set it after John Wick 4, because then you’d have social media saying, “Oh, so he’s still alive! What’s he going to do next time? Is there a John Wick 5?!” This way, you can still keep up the pretense that there might not be a John Wick 5.
What’s ‘Ballerina’ About?
The official plot summary states that, “a young female assassin seeks revenge against the people who killed her family”, with Reeves adding that de Armas’ character is “a woman who has some very difficult circumstances and who’s looking for revenge.
Whoever killed her- someone killed her father. Who could that be? And so it’s her journey for actually understanding her past. She lost her father at a young age, and she doesn’t really know what happened.
Only that someone came into the house and killed her father, who had a tattoo. And as we know in John Wick , if you have a tattoo, something’s going on.”
McShane also explained that his character from the franchise, the hotelier Winston Scott, and Charon (the late Lance Reddick), would be “protecting” de Armas’ character, Rooney, within the grounds of The Continental Hotel in New York City, from Byrne’s villain.
Ballerina will now drop on June 6, 2025. The John Wick franchise can be streamed now on Peacock, including the limited series The Continental.