It has been a decade since audiences were first introduced to Keanu Reeves’ legendary assassin in John Wick, an all-time great action movie that has since launched a trio of sequels and given us so many incredible characters. In 2025, the franchise will be expanded even further with the long-awaited Ballerina.
The upcoming action thriller starring Ana De Armas as a ballerina-turned-assassin has us excited for another round of stylish action, even more creative kills, and the expansion of a criminal underworld with loads of interesting lore. Below is a breakdown of everything we know about Ballerina, including its release date, who makes up its cast, and other things we can expect…
What Is The Ballerina Release Date?
Fans of the John Wick franchise who are looking for the next installment will have to wait a little while longer, as Ballerina isn't set to be released until June 6, 2025. The movie, which was supposed to come out in the middle of the 2024 movie schedule was pushed back by a year in February 2024, less than four months before its initial big-screen debut.
Ballerina Will Follow A Young Assassin As She Seeks Revenge
The first John Wick movie had a rather simple premise: a man receives a dog from his late wife on the day of her funeral, bonds with the pup, and then goes down a path of vengeance after the pet is killed. We don’t know if any dogs will be involved in Ballerina’s plot, but what we do know is that the upcoming movie will center on an assassin as she seeks revenge.
According to Deadline, the movie will follow Ana De Armas’ character as she seeks revenge against the people who killed her family. Simple, right? Well, as we’ve learned with previous John Wick movies, things may start simple but only become more complicated and deadly as the story progresses.
When Can We Expect A Ballerina Trailer?
We still have a little over a year until Ballerina hits the big screen and expands the John Wick universe, but it shouldn’t be that long before we catch a glimpse at the movie’s trailer. Though no trailer has been announced at the time of this writing, there are some major Lionsgate releases on the horizon like Eli Roth’s Borderlands adaptation, the long-awaited Crow reboot, and several others between now and June 2025 where a teaser could be snuck in.
Though the public will still have to wait some time before we get to see a trailer or even some footage from the upcoming movie, CinemaCon 2024 attendees were given an exclusive look at the Ballerina trailer during the Lionsgate panel. CinemaBlend’s Sean O'Connell was in attendance and said that not only did the trailer confirm Keanu Reeves’ role, it also showed John Wick training Ana De Armas’ assassin, who looked “lethal as hell.”
Ana De Armas Leads The Ballerina Cast
The first four chapters in the John Wick franchise were led by Keanu Reeves, whose titular assassin found himself in dangerous and intense situations all over the world. However, the actor’s Knock Knock co-star will be the focal point this time around. Here is everyone we can expect to see in the Ballerina cast.
Ana De Armas (Rooney)
Ana De Armas takes on the role of Rooney, a ballerina-turned-assassin on a path of revenge in the upcoming action thriller. Though this is De Armas’ first appearance in the franchise, the character briefly appeared in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, played by Unity Phelan. De Armas is no stranger to the action world, as she’s popped up in everything from The Gray Man to No Time To Die, in addition to her more dramatic outings like Blonde and Knives Out.
Keanu Reeves (John Wick)
Though it was implied that Reeves’ beloved character died in the John Wick: Chapter 4 ending, the actor will be reprising his role in Ballerina, as the movie takes place between the franchise’s third and fourth installments, per Collider. This means we will see the badass assassin at least one more time until we figure out what’s going on with John Wick 5, and Reeves will add another great performance to his list of accomplishments.
Ian McShane (Winston Scott)
Ian McShane, who has played John Wick’s trusted friend and the owner of the Continental Hotel since the franchise’s beginning, will reprise his role in the upcoming spinoff. With his famed establishment still standing (remember, this takes place before Chapter 4), there’s a chance we get to see Winston in his old digs at least one more time.
Anjelica Huston (The Director)
Anjelica Huston’s the Director was introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum as the leader of the Ruska Roma who reluctantly helped the titular killer on his quest. The acclaimed actress will be back again as she trains Ana De Armas’ character.
Lance Reddick (Charon)
Though the late Lance Reddick’s fan-favorite character, Charon, died in the early minutes of Chapter 4, the character will still be alive in Ballerina, since it takes place before his shocking death. This will be the actor’s final posthumously released film.
Norman Reedus
In addition to seeing the return of several of the best John Wick characters, Ballerina will also feature several actors making their franchise debuts, including Norman Reedus, per Deadline. Reedus’ role has yet to be revealed, but the actor brings with him a great track record that includes everything from The Walking Dead to The Boondock Saints to Triple 9.
Catalina Sandino Moreno
Catalina Sandino Moreno has also joined the Ballerina cast in an undisclosed role, according to Variety. After making a name for herself with her Academy Award-nominated portrayal of María Álvarez in 2004’s Maria Full of Grace, Moreno has appeared in everything from A Most Violent Year to John Woo’s Silent Night.
Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel Bryne, who has given iconic performances in movies like The Usual Suspects, Enemy of the State, Miller’s Crossing, and Hereditary, will now be a part of the John Wick franchise. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the Irish actor will appear in an undisclosed role when Ballerina hits the big screen.
Ballerina Has Been Compared To La Femme Nikita
There have been a lot of badass female action characters over the years, with Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, and Furiosa quickly coming to mind. Another character that doesn’t get talked about as much, but is still just as important to action cinema, is Nikita, Anne Parillaud’s nihilistic assassin at the center of Luc Besson’s 1990 thriller, La Femme Nikita.
When Ballerina was first announced way back in July 2017, Variety described the project as being similar to La Femme Nikita, but the outlet did not provide much in terms of details about the comparison. However, it’s not difficult to find similarities between the two movies, as both center on characters whose lives are forever changed by terrible tragedies, and both films have strong female characters as the main focus of their respective stories. And, if the action in Ballerina is anything like that seen in La Femme Nikita, audiences will be in for a treat when the spinoff debuts this summer.
Underworld’s Len Wiseman Directs Ballerina, Which Was Written By Shay Hatten And Emerald Fennell
The four movies in the John Wick franchise have been helmed by stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski (The Fall Guy’s David Leitch co-directed the first entry back in 2014), but the filmmaker, who is also adapting Ghost of Tsushima, won’t be the one running the show for Ballerina. Back in 2019, when it was still in the early stages of development, Deadline revealed that Len Wiseman had been tapped to direct the upcoming spinoff.
Wiseman, who worked on movies like Stargate and Independence Day early in his career, made his directorial debut in 2003 with the Kate Beckinsale-led action horror movie, Underworld. He would go on to direct the 2006 sequel, Underworld: Evolution, before branching out to helm projects like Live Free or Die Hard and Total Recall, though he did stay on as a producer for all subsequent Underworld movies.
Shay Hatten, who previously served as one of the screenwriters on the two most recent John Wick movies, returned to the franchise once again to pen the Ballerina script. But the writer behind movies like Army of the Dead and Rebel Moon wasn’t alone in the scripting department, as Emerald Fennell, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker behind Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, also worked on the screenplay, as reported by Variety.
The Ballerina Director’s Cut Was Completed In September 2023
Production on Ballerina kicked off in November 2022, and a little less than a year later, a director’s cut was completed, according to Len Wiseman. When speaking with EW in September 2023, he admitted that while post-production was paused at the time (he didn’t say if this was because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes), he had just finished the director’s cut of the upcoming action film.
How much work needed to be completed in terms of post-production and reshoots wasn’t made clear at the time, but that would change in the following months.
John Wick Director Chad Stahelski Is Helping Out With Additional Action Sequences
Though he’s not technically the director of Ballerina, Chad Staheslki is providing Len Wiseman assistance with some new action sequences. In February 2024, Deadline reported that Stahelski signed a new deal with Lionsgate to oversee the John Wick franchise moving forward, and along with that came the news that he would be working on the 2025 project.
The details of those additional shoots weren’t immediately made clear, so it’s hard to say how much of a directorial role Stahelski will have in the production of Ballerina. But, knowing how the stuntman-turned-director has crafted some eye-popping set pieces in the past, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
There are still a few things we don’t yet know about Ballerina, including its runtime, rating, and when we’ll get to see the first trailer, but all of that should be worked out in the coming months.
