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

Keanu Reeves and Ian McShane Join Cast of John Wick Spinoff Ballerina

Published Tue, 08 Nov 2022 15:46:10 -0600

The world of John Wick continues to grow. We have the fourth movie coming out next year, the TV spinoff about the hotel The Continental is also looking like it's going to be released next year, and production on a spinoff movie has kicked off production in Prague. We don't know that much about the film that stars Ana de Armas and is called Ballerina, we don't even know if it takes place before, during, or after the events of the movies, but it seems that we will be seeing some familiar faces. According to Collider, both Keanu Reeves and Ian McShane will appear in Ballerina.

Keanu Reeves and Ian McShane Join Cast of John Wick Spinoff Ballerina — L-R: Keanu Reeves arrives for the John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum' L.A. Special Screening on May 15, 2019, in Hollywood, CA. Editorial credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com | Ian McShane arrives for the John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum' L.A. Special Screening on May 15, 2019, in Hollywood, CA. Editorial credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com

John Wick: From Indie Darling To Franchise Juggernaut

It's still a little amazing that John Wick, the action movie in 2014 where the only real notable thing about it was that they managed to snag Reeves as its leading man, has turned into the franchise juggernaut it is today. That is what happens when you have good people working on a film from the beginning because it would have been easy for John Wick to fade into obscurity with a ton of other disposable action movies. However, the creative team of director Chad Stahelski and screenwriter Derek Kolstad took the time to build a fascinating world around that action movie. The world of John Wick is the thing that everyone fell in love with on top of the fact that Reeves is the best at this.

So it wasn't surprising that a sequel was greenlit, and it was even less surprising that in 2017 it was announced that a spinoff film and television shows were in the works. The Continental will focus on the hotel that plays a central part in the assassin world that John Wick moves in, and Ballerina will be something different. Len Wiseman was brought on to direct with Wiseman & Shay Hatten
and Emerald Fennell working on the screenplay, and Hatten also has a story credit. We still don't know much about the film, and it doesn't have a release date, but filming has begun. So maybe late 2023 to mid-2024, depending on how quickly they can finish shooting and wrap up post-production. Now that they are shooting, maybe we will learn more about the plot of this mysterious film as well.

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