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Whoa: Keanu Reeves & Ian McShane join Ana De Armas in 'John Wick' spinoff ‘Ballerina'
This deadly dance packs some serious John Wick star power.
Just like a proper John Wick fight, the casting news surrounding spinoff movie Ballerina is escalating quickly. Fresh off word that the Ana de Armas-starring film has begun production in Prague, a fresh one-two punch of major John Wick star power has just landed — including news of the inclusion of main man Keanu Reeves himself.
Reeves has just signed on to appear alongside de Armas in the upcoming spinoff from the hugely successful series of secret-society action films, via a new report at Collider. Reeves will play (who else?) John Wick, the reluctant but lethal hero whose first three films at Lionsgate have now spawned not only Ballerina, but the upcoming Peacock spinoff series The Continental, as well as early plans for a big-budget John Wick video game.
The Ballerina news just keeps coming, too: Joining Reeves and de Armas (who previously shared screen time in the 2015 suspense thriller Knock Knock) will be none other than series mainstay Ian McShane, according to The Hollywood Reporter. McShane will reportedly reprises his enigmatic John Wick role as Winston, the overseer of the favored-by-assassins Continental Hotel — a place where an extra credit card charge is the least of your worries, if you manage to break the house rules.
We’ve already seen de Armas do a masterful spy takedown opposite Daniel Craig in last year’s No Time to Die, so there’s no questioning her action movie bona fides. Details surrounding the plot of Ballerina are light, though THR notes de Armas stars as “a young woman with killer skills who uses said skills to get revenge when her family is killed by hitmen.” Hmmm…If you’ve seen the original John Wick, then you might just be detecting a theme.
Collider’s report states it’s not yet known if Reeves, who’s reportedly already in Prague to take part in Ballerina’s production, will show up in a mere cameo or perhaps in a larger starring role. Len Wiseman is set to direct Ballerina, with John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum and Army of the Dead scribe Shay Hatten handling script duty. Killing Eve writer Emerald Fennell is also reported to be assisting with the story, as de Armas confided earlier this year in an interview with Elle.
If all that’s not enough John Wick to get you properly bandaged up, there’s also the next chapter in Lionsgate’s smash centerpiece film franchise to look forward to. Reeves is again teaming with onetime The Matrix costar Laurence Fishburne for John Wick 4, alongside returning stars McShane, Lance Reddick (as Charon), Donnie Yen, Shamier Anderson, Bill Skarsgård, and more ahead of the movie’s March 24, 2023 premiere.
There’s no early word on when Ballerina will (probably violently) spin into theaters, nor on when next year The Continental — which explores Winston’s backstory as the hotel’s eventual manager — is set to greet its first deadly guest at Peacock. But it’s a safe bet that the next 12 months or so will be a complete, mayhem-infused treat for John Wick fans in general…and it all got its start way back in 2014, over finding justice for a very good dog.
Looking for even more action? Check out Taken, Taken 2, and some Fast & Furious thrills, now streaming on Peacock.
