Upcoming film by Len Wiseman

Ballerina is an upcoming American action thriller film directed by Len Wiseman, from a script written by Shay Hatten, Michael Finch, and Emerald Fennell, based on an original story by Hatten. It is the first spin-off, and fifth installment overall in the John Wick franchise. It is set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). It stars Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves. In the film, ballerina-assassin Rooney (Armas) hunts those who killed her family. This is Reddick’s final screen role, which will be released posthumously after his death in 2023.

Lionsgate acquired Hatten’s spec script for the film in 2017, leading to him contributing to the final screenplay for Parabellum and then serving as the lead writer for Chapter 4. In October 2019, Wiseman was hired as director, with Chad Stahelski confirmed as a producer by May 2020. Ballerina was officially announced in April 2022, with de Armas confirmed to be replacing Unity Phelan, who portrayed the character in Parabellum, in the lead role; by that November, the rest of the main cast was rounded out. Principal photography began soon after, taking place in Prague, Czech Republic. Additional action sequences were shot starting in February 2024.

The film is scheduled to be released on June 6, 2025.

Premise[edit]

Taking place between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Chapter 4,[3] ballerina-assassin Rooney hunts the murderers of her family.

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

In July 2017, Lionsgate Films acquired Shay Hatten’s action thriller Ballerina, with Thunder Road Films producing the film with Hatten rewriting the script to be a part of the John Wick franchise, with the title character, Rooney, ultimately being written into the third main film, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum in a cameo role ahead of the production of Ballerina, portrayed by Unity Phelan.[12] At the end of the year, the script was voted onto The Black List of best unproduced screenplays in 2017.[13] By October 2019, Len Wiseman was hired to direct the film.[14] In May 2020, Stahelski stated that Wiseman had read the script earlier, and approached the studio with a pitch of how he would develop the project, based on Hatten’s draft, for which the proof of concept had previously been uploaded to YouTube in September 2017.[15] Stahelski met with Wiseman, and approached executives to hire the filmmaker. He confirmed that he and his team will work closely with Wiseman on the action sequences and stunts for the film, while acknowledging that Wiseman’s filmmaking style will add variety to the franchise. At that point, Wiseman and Hatten were working on a newer draft of the script.[16] By April 2022, the film was officially announced by Lionsgate, with Ana de Armas tapped to star in the lead role.[4] In July 2022, de Armas stated Emerald Fennell was hired to contribute to the script as one of its writers.[17]

Casting[edit]

Ana de Armas was cast in 2021 to play the titular character, a ballerina-assassin named Rooney.

In May 2020, it was reported that the studio was looking for an actress to star in the film, with Chloë Grace Moretz as the template for the kind of talent they were looking for.[18] By October 2021, Ana de Armas entered negotiations to play the titular character, a ballerina-assassin named Rooney, replacing Unity Phelan, who previously portrayed the character in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).[19] By April 2022 at CinemaCon, Lionsgate officially announced that de Armas would star in the lead role.[4] In November 2022, it was announced that Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, and Anjelica Huston had joined the cast and will reprise their roles from previous films of the franchise; as John Wick, Winston Scott, Charon, and “the Director”, respectively;[11][20][5][7] it also marks the third collaboration between de Armas and Reeves, having previously worked together in Knock Knock (2015) and Exposed (2016). In December 2022, Gabriel Byrne, Norman Reedus, and Catalina Sandino Moreno joined the supporting cast in undisclosed roles.[9][10][6] During reshoots in 2024, David Castañeda and Sharon Duncan-Brewster joined the cast.[21]

Filming[edit]

Initially scheduled to commence in summer 2022,[4] principal photography officially began on November 7, 2022, in Prague, Czech Republic.[22][11][23] Ballerina was in post-production in February 2023.[24] In February 2024, producer Chad Stahelski was working on additional action sequences for the film with director Len Wiseman.[25]

Music[edit]

The music score was composed in collaboration by Marco Beltrami and Anna Drubich, which they commenced in April 17, 2023.[26]

Release[edit]

Ballerina is scheduled to be released in the United States and the United Kingdom on June 6, 2025.[27] It was previously scheduled to be released on June 7, 2024.[28]

Potential sequel[edit]

In March 2023, producer Erica Lee stated that the studio has tentative plans to develop a sequel starring Ana de Armas.[29]

References[edit]

1. ^ “Ballerina“. Lionsgate. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
2. ^ a b c McPherson, Chris (January 22, 2024). “Ian McShane Reveals Why ‘Ballerina’ Has to Be Set Before ‘John Wick 4′”. Collider. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
3. ^ Mboho, Edidiong (December 5, 2022). “Keanu Reeves Reveals When John Wick Spinoff Ballerina Takes Place”. Collider. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
4. ^ a b c d Anderson, Jenna (April 28, 2022). “Ana de Armas Confirmed to Star in John Wick Spinoff Ballerina“. ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
5. ^ a b Kit, Borys (November 21, 2022). “Anjelica Huston Joins Ana de Armas in Lionsgate’s John Wick Spinoff Ballerina (Exclusive)”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
6. ^ a b D’Alessandro, Anthony (December 20, 2022). “‘John Wick’ Spinoff ‘Ballerina’ Expands Troupe With Gabriel Byrne”. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
7. ^ a b Rubin, Rebecca (December 2, 2022). “Lance Reddick to Reprise John Wick Role in Ana de Armas-Led Spinoff Ballerina (Exclusive)”. Variety. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
8. ^ Berman, Marc (March 17, 2023). “Lance Reddick Dead: ‘The Wire’, ‘Fringe’ And ‘John Wick’ Star Was 60”. Forbes. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
9. ^ a b D’Alessandro, Anthony (December 7, 2022). “Ana De Armas ‘John Wick’ Spinoff ‘Ballerina’ Adds Catalina Sandino Moreno”. Deadline. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
10. ^ a b D’Alessandro, Anthony (December 13, 2022). “Walking Dead Star Norman Reedus Joins John Wick Spinoff Ballerina“. Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
11. ^ a b c Borys, Kit (November 8, 2022). “Ian McShane Joins Ana de Armas in Lionsgate’s John Wick Spinoff Ballerina (Exclusive)”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
12. ^ Kit, Borys (July 25, 2017). “Lionsgate Plotting John Wick Universe With Ballerina Action Script (Exclusive)”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
13. ^ Hipes, Patrick (December 11, 2017). “The Black List 2017 Screenplays: Post-WWII Tale ‘Ruin’ Is No. 1 – Full Rankings”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
14. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 8, 2019). “Len Wiseman Set To Direct Female-Centric John Wick Spinoff Ballerina“. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
15. ^ Rimburg, Vlad (September 27, 2017). Ballerina: Proof of Concept Action Design – Female John Wick. Vlad Rimburg. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2017 – via YouTube.
16. ^ Davids, Brian (May 20, 2020). “Filmmaker Chad Stahelski on John Wick 4 and His Matrix 4 Involvement”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
17. ^ Meltzer, Marisa (July 13, 2022). “Ana’s Getaway”. Elle. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
18. ^ Campell, Jacob (May 5, 2020). “Ballerina: John Wick Spinoff Eyeing Chloë Grace Moretz In Lead Role”. Full Circle Cinema. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
19. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (October 28, 2021). “Ana De Armas In Talks To Lead John Wick Spinoff Ballerina; Movie Spearheads Bumper AFM Slate For Lionsgate”. Deadline. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
20. ^ Maggie, Lovitt (November 8, 2022). “Keanu Reeves Returns as John Wick in Ballerina Spinoff [Exclusive]”. Collider. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
21. ^ Grobar, Matt (March 6, 2024). “David Castañeda & Sharon Duncan-Brewster Board Lionsgate’s ‘Ballerina’ Amid Reshoots”. Archived from the original on March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
22. ^ Pirodsky, Jason (November 5, 2022). “John Wick spinoff Ballerina, with Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves, kicks off Prague shoot”. The Prague Reporter. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
23. ^ Welk, Brian (November 5, 2022). “Lionsgate Flirting with Major John Wick Video Game”. IndieWire. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
24. ^ Peralta, Diego (February 15, 2023). “This Is Why Keanu Reeves Wanted John Wick: Chapter 4 to Remain a Theatrical Release”. Collider. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
25. ^ D’Alessandro, Anthony (February 21, 2024). “‘Ballerina’ Dances Into Summer 2025 As ‘The Crow’ Swoops Into John Wick Spinoff’s June 2024 Date”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
26. ^ “Marco Beltrami & Anna Drubich to Score Len Wiseman’s ‘Ballerina'”. Film Music Reporter. April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
27. ^ D’Alessandro, Anthony (February 21, 2024). “‘Ballerina’ Dances Into Summer 2025 As ‘The Crow’ Swoops Into John Wick Spinoff’s June 2024 Date”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
28. ^ D’Alessandro, Anthony (April 4, 2023). “‘John Wick’ Ana de Armas Spinoff ‘Ballerina’ Sets Summer 2024 Date”. Deadline. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
29. ^ Oddo, Marco Vito (March 27, 2023). “New ‘John Wick’-Universe Film in Development [Exclusive]”. Collider. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023.

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