Posted in: Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: Ballerina, film, john wick, lionsgate

John Wick Producer Explains Why Ballerina is a Solid John Wick Spinoff

With John Wick turning into a massive franchise, here's what the upcoming Ballerina film is hoping to accomplish through its story.

Published Tue, 14 Nov 2023 17:17:06 -0600

by Aedan Juvet

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Article Summary

'Ballerina' spinoff aims to expand the successful 'John Wick' franchise with fresh storytelling.
Producer Basil Iwanyk highlights the creation of a unique, grounded female lead character.
Emerald Fennell contributes a great draft imbuing authenticity and emotional depth.
The spinoff seeks to avoid common female assassin movie tropes and objectification.

As we know, John Wick is quickly evolving into one of the most immersive action franchises, with several projects in development, including additional sequels, spinoffs, and a series. So, as we get closer to the reveal of the upcoming spinoff entry Ballerina, there are unavoidable already high stakes considering the success the franchise continues to attain at every turn.

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

Developing the John Wick Spinoff Film Ballerina

When speaking to Screen Rant about the development of the upcoming Ballerina spinoff within the John Wick universe, producer Basil Iwanyk discussed its perspective with the addition of writer Emerald Fennell, noting, "What we don't want, and this is important. We don't want an action movie where we just took a male character, put in a female, and then just call it a day. We wanted this character to feel real, to feel feminine, to feel she wasn't sexless, but she wasn't objectified sexually. She wasn't someone who doesn't smile."

Iwanyk then continues, "All the tropes that you see on a lot of female assassin movies, we wanted someone that felt legit and real and grounded female character. And Emerald is a gigantic John Wick fan. It's just shocking how many fancy people love the John Wick movies. It's like they apologize too, 'Oh, I know.' I'm like, 'It's okay. You could admit it.' Emerald loves the John Wick movies. Loved it. And she was like, 'I don't see these kinds of movies. This is awesome.' And she wrote a f——ng great draft. And we used a vast majority of it. And she gave that character, honest character, some — I'm not saying real, because remember we're talking about the John Wick world, but it felt grounded, emotionally grounded as a female character."

With several John Wick projects in development, which one are you most excited to see in the future?

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