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Ballerina Footage Is Exactly What CinemaCon Dreams Are Made Of

Ballerina was delayed to 2025 recently, but early footage shown during the Lionsgate presentation at CinemaCon was still electrifying.

Lionsgate is very proud of the John Wick franchise, and they have every right to be. While the first spin-off over on Peacock was a mixed bag, it was likely a learning experience for everyone involved that while John Wick was a recognizable name, they couldn't phone it in and rest on their laurels. This franchise set an incredibly high bar right out of the gate, so they would have to try and elevate everything if they were going to continue to justify this franchise without star Keanu Reeves leading the charge. Ballerina is the first of the big screen spin-offs for the franchise and was recently delayed a whole year to next year. People weren't expecting anything from the film during the Lionsgate presentation at CinemaCon today, but apparently, they wanted the hype train to start early, and we got footage.

Ballerina Dances And Punches Its Way Into CinemaCon

Lionsgate is not hiding the fact that they are going back and doing reshoots for this film, but they are framing it as adding larger set pieces to a film that will make it bigger and better. They cite that the film was tracking incredibly well this year without a single still released, and they want to make it as good as possible. So the footage we got for Ballerina, or John Wick Presents: Ballerina as shown on the screen, was part of the initial rough cut before these reshoots. The film takes place between the third and fourth John Wick films, and we saw Reeves, Ian McShane, and the late Lance Reddick, with star Ana de Armas looking like she could break everyone in half.

We got to see some of the action scenes, and it's clear that we won't be seeing John Wick's style copy-pasted onto de Armas. Ballerina's are insanely strong and fast, and you can see some of that influence in how she fights from what we have seen. There was a flamethrower involved, shoving a grenade into a man's mouth and then kicking him away so it explodes, and so much more. Ballerina looks brutal, and the trailer didn't hide Reeves or anyone else's involvement. However, we have learned that he won't have a massive role in the film. It's just good to see him, as always.

It's the kind of footage that CinemaCon loves because it got the crowd and the media hyped up immediately, and an energy came alive in the room the moment it started to roll. That is the kind of thing that theater owners want to capture on a large scale, and seeing that this film could do it to this crowd is a good indication that Ballerina will be good for movie theaters next summer. Unfortunately, This film has a release date of June 6, 2025, so don't expect to see this footage anytime soon.

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