‘John Wick’ Spin-off ‘Ballerina’ Bringing Back Keanu Reeves and Ian McShane
Filming has started on the new John Wick spin-off film Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas. And as cameras started rolling, new information has come out, including two potentially important players in the story.
According to Collider, John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves, is currently in Prague, where Ballerina is filming at the moment, and will be appearing in the new movie. Plot details are scarce at this point, and it’s unclear how Wick’s presence will impact the film, but for now it seems like they are keeping the universe together. In fact, he will not be the only returning actor from the main saga films, as Ian McShane, who plays Winston (the manager of the famous Continental Hotel), is going to play a pivotal role in the spin-off film, producer Basil Iwanyk said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter:
“We’re thrilled to have Ian McShane joining us for a pivotal role in ‘Ballerina’. He’s been such an integral part of the franchise since the original ‘John Wick.’ It’s been fun to have him on this journey as the Wick universe expands.”
Ballerina stars Ana de Armas as a young female assassin in “revenge mode” against those who are responsible for her family’s demise. Len Wiseman is directing a script by Shay Hatten that was punched up by Promising Young Woman‘s Emerald Fennell, as de Armas revealed over the summer. It’s unknown who will receive final writing credit for the film.
Meanwhile, a countdown has started for the trailer of the fourth installment of the John Wick series. Along with The Hunger Games, this is Lionsgate’s most vital franchise, so a lot is on the line for the studio next year, since The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, starring West Side Story‘s Rachel Zegler, is also on schedule to hit theaters in Thanksgiving 2023. We also mustn’t forget about their long-awaited Borderlands adaptation, which has been flying under the radar — but in full post-production mode — for months now without a release date.
No release date has been set for Ballerina. Meanwhile, John Wick: Chapter 4 will be released in theaters on March 24, 2023.
As a side note, the Peacock-distributed prequel series The Continental has been confirmed to reach international territories through Prime Video when it arrives at some point in 2023.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
