By I don’t think it’d be right to spoil the end of John Wick’s latest outing in Parabellum; the bloodstains are just setting in, if you will. But needless to say… John’s got his hands full. And we know a fourth film is underway. But if there’s one thing audiences have learned from the three Keanu Reeves vehicles, there are a ton of killers out there, each with their own story. And we’ll be getting a look into one in a big way.
Ballerina is announced to be the first feature film spin-off of the John Wick franchise, directed by Len Wiseman (Swamp Thing, Live Free or Die Hard) from a script by Parabellum scribe Shay Hatten, with longtime John Wick director Chad Stahelski producing alongside Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee.
Said to focus on a “young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family,” Ballerina’s casting details remain a mystery. Deadline points out that Unity Phelan is credited in John Wick Chapter 3 as “Ballerina,” though this is likely a coincidence, with nothing confirmed. Fans of the franchise might have some ideas as to the character’s identity though, with Chapter 3 featuring an extended sequence involving Wick’s past, and his ties to Russian mafia whose rigorous assassin training models itself after ballet dancers.
With comics and a brand new game making waves, the John Wick franchise is seemingly only growing in size, with a full-blown feature cementing it, if there were any doubt. The three films have been increasingly-profitable ventures, making the greenlight for a spin-off a no-brainer over at Lionsgate.
No date or timeframe has been set for Ballerina, but we know the tentatively-titled John Wick Chapter 4 is set for a release on May 21, 2021. For more Wickful thinking, stay tuned.
Len Wiseman Set To Direct Female-Centric ‘John Wick’ Spinoff ‘Ballerina’ [Deadline]