Posted in: Casting, Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: ana de armas, Ballerina, john wick, keanu reeves, len wiseman, lionsgate

Ballerina: Ana de Armas in Talks to Star in John Wick Spinoff

Published Fri, 29 Oct 2021 07:17:10 -0500

by Tom Chang

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It looks like Ana de Armas is taking her next big leap in her superstardom, leading her own action vehicle after her memorable turn in the Bond film No Time to Die in the John Wick spinoff called Ballerina, which follows a young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family. De Armas is in talks to play the Ballerina originally introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019), who was training in her deadly craft, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Ballerina: Ana de Armas in Talks to Star in John Wick Spinoff — MGM/United Artists

Len Wiseman (Underworld is set to direct the action-thriller spinoff of the Keanu Reeves-led franchise and Parabellum scribe Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead) is set to pen the script. Ballerina comes from Lionsgate, the studio responsible for John Wick, with producers Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, and director Chad Stahelski. Deadline can't confirm whether Reeves and Anjelica Huston will make cameos.

Ana de Armas arriving for the "Knives Out" screening as part of the London Film Festival 2019 at the Odeon Leicester Square, London. Editorial credit: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com

In addition to her breakout roles in Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and Rian Johnson's Knives Out (2019), de Armas is slated to star in a few other upcoming high profile projects. The projects include 20th Century Studios' Deep Water from Adrian Lyne starring opposite Ben Affleck slated for a mid-January 2022 release, the Netflix blockbuster The Gray Man for the Russo Brothers starring opposite (Knives Out co-star) Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling, and Billy Bob Thorton, and her much-anticipated take on Marilyn Monroe in the Andrew Dominik biopic for Netflix in Blonde. The latter two also are slated for 2022 releases. The often-delayed No Time to Die star Daniel Craig's swan song to 007 grossed over half a billion globally at the box office. De Armas plays Paloma, who becomes a contact for James Bond, who does her fair share of ass-kicking. It's clear how her stuntwork definitely paid off, making her a more-than-capable action star.