''Ballerina'' is an upcoming American

action thriller Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...

film directed by

Len Wiseman Len Ryan Wiseman (born March 4, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the ''Underworld'' series, ''Live Free or Die Hard'', and the 2012 film '' Total Recall''. Wiseman runs the production company Sketch Films. Early ...

from a screenplay by

Shay Hatten Shay Hatten (born March 1993/1994) is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his work on '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'' (2019), ''Army of the Dead'' and ''Army of Thieves'' (both 2021). Early life Hatten was born ...

and

Emerald Fennell Emerald Lilly Fennell (; born 1 October 1985) is an English actress, filmmaker, and writer. She has received many awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award, and nomination ...

, based on a story by Hatten. It is the first

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

of the ''John Wick'' franchise, and is set between the events of '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'' (2019) and '' John Wick: Chapter 4'' (2023). It stars

Ana de Armas Ana Celia de Armas Caso (; born 30 April 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She began her career in Cuba and had a leading role in the romantic drama '' Una rosa de Francia'' (2006). At age 18, she moved to Madrid, Spain, and starred in t ...

Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston ( ; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress and director. Known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as no ...

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...

Lance Reddick Lance Reddick (born December 31, 1962) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Cedric Daniels in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Phillip Broyles in ''Fringe'' (2008–2013), and Chief Irvin Irving in '' Bosch'' (2014–2020) ...

Catalina Sandino Moreno Catalina Sandino Moreno (born 19 April 1981) is a Colombian actress. She shared the Silver Bear with Charlize Theron and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her leading role in ''Maria Full of Grace'' (2004). She cu ...

Norman Reedus Norman Mark Reedus (born January 6, 1969) is an American actor best known for starring as Daryl Dixon in the AMC (TV channel), AMC horror drama series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Walking Dead'' (2010–2022). He also starred as Murphy Mac ...

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (2004 ...

, and

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

. In the film,

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

-assassin Rooney (Armas) hunts those who killed her family.

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

acquired Hatten's

spec script A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...

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 franchise director

Chad Stahelski Chad Stahelski (born September 20, 1968) is an American stuntman and film director. He is known for directing the 2014 film ''John Wick'' and directing its three sequels. Stahelski also doubled for Brandon Lee after the fatal accident involving L ...

confirmed as a producer by May 2020. ''Ballerina'' was officially announced in April 2022, with de Armas confirmed to be replacing

Unity Phelan Unity Sickles Phelan (born February 1995) is an American ballet dancer. She joined the New York City Ballet in 2013 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2021. Outside of the company, she had also danced in films '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Par ...

, who portrayed the character in ''Parabellum'', in the lead role; by that November, the rest of the main cast was rounded out.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began soon after, taking place in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. The film is scheduled to be released on June 7, 2024.

Premise

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

Cast

as Rooney: A ballerina who seeks revenge by hunting the murderers of her family. The character was previously portrayed by

in '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'' (2019). *

as "The Director" *

as Charon, the concierge at the Continental Hotel in New York and friend of Winston Scott and acquaintance of John Wick. This was Reddick's final appearance as Charon and one of his last screen appearances. *

as Winston Scott: The enigmatic owner of the Continental Hotel and friend of John Wick. *

as Jardani Jovonovich / Jonathan "John" Wick: A professional hitman known as one of the most dangerous assassins, and fearfully referred to in the hitman underworld as "Baba Yaga".

Production

Development

In July 2017,

Lionsgate Films Lionsgate Films (formerly known as Cinépix Film Properties) is an American film production and film distribution studio, headquartered in Santa Monica and founded in Canada, and is the flagship division of Lionsgate Entertainment. It is the larg ...

acquired

's action thriller ''Ballerina'', with

Thunder Road Films Thunder Road Films is a film and television financing and production company founded by Basil Iwanyk. It is based in Santa Monica, California. Management Producer Basil Iwanyk founded the film and television financing and production company ' ...

producing the film with Hatten rewriting the script to be a part of the ''John Wick'' franchise, with the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

, Rooney, ultimately being written into the third main film, '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'' in a

cameo role A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

ahead of the production of ''Ballerina'', portrayed by

. By October 2019,

was hired to direct the film. 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 Proof of concept (POC or PoC), also known as proof of principle, is a realization of a certain method or idea in order to demonstrate its feasibility, or a demonstration in principle with the aim of verifying that some concept or theory has prac ...

had previously been uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

in September 2017. 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. By April 2022, the film was officially announced by Lionsgate, with

tapped to star in the lead role./ In July 2022, de Armas revealed that she had personally selected

to contribute to the script as one of its writers.

Casting

In May 2020, it was reported that the studio was looking for an actress to star in the film, with

Chloë Grace Moretz Chloë Grace Moretz (; born February 10, 1997) is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including four MTV Movie & TV Awards, two People's Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and two Young Artist Awards. She began actin ...

as the template for the kind of talent they were looking for. By October 2021,

entered negotiations to play the titular character, a ballerina-assassin named Rooney, replacing

, who previously portrayed the character in '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'' (2019). By April 2022 at

CinemaCon The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is an American trade organization whose members are the owners of movie theaters. Most of the worldwide List of movie theater chains, major theater chains' operators are members, as are hundreds ...

, Lionsgate officially announced that de Armas would star in the lead role. In November 2022, it was announced that

, and

had joined the cast and will reprise their roles from previous films of the franchise; as

John Wick ''John Wick'' is an American action thriller media franchise created by Derek Kolstad and centering around John Wick, a former hitman who is forced back into the criminal underworld he had abandoned. The franchise began with the release of ''J ...

, Winston Scott, Charon, and "the Director", respectively; it also marks the third collaboration between de Armas and Reeves, having previously worked together in ''

Knock Knock Knock Knock may refer to: * Knock-knock joke, a type of joke Film and television * Knock Knock (1940 film), ''Knock Knock'' (1940 film), an animated short film noted for the first appearance of Woody Woodpecker * ''Knock Knock'' (2007 film), a ...

'' (2015) and ''

Exposed Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * ''The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website Film and TV Film * ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film * ''Exposed'' (1932 ...

'' (2016). In December 2022,

, and

joined the supporting cast in undisclosed roles.

Filming

Initially scheduled to commence in summer 2022,

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

officially began on November 7, 2022, in Prague. ''Ballerina'' was in

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

in February 2023.

Music

The music score was composed by

Marco Beltrami Marco Beltrami (born October 7, 1966) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has worked in a number of genres, including horror (''Scream'', ''Mimic, The Faculty, Resident Evil, The Woman in Black, A Quiet Place' ...

and Anna Drubich, which they joined it in April 17, 2023.

Release

''Ballerina'' is scheduled to be released in the United States on June 7, 2024.

Potential sequel

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

References

External links

* {{Len Wiseman American action thriller films Film spin-offs Films directed by Len Wiseman Films produced by Basil Iwanyk Films shot in Prague Films with screenplays by Shay Hatten John Wick Lionsgate films Summit Entertainment films Thunder Road Films films Upcoming English-language films Interquel films