In the world of Hollywood, commercially successful franchises are among the hottest commodities a movie studio can get their hands on. To have a talented actor at the helm ready to put on a show stopping performance that will translate to big box office receipts is a dream come true for film executives, and few have come as lucky as Lionsgate has with the John Wick franchise. With Keanu Reeves in the driver’s seat as the film’s titular star, the franchise has seen immense commercial success since it debuted less than a decade ago and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down either. Not only is a fourth installment of the franchise already on the way, now a new spin-off project is said to be on the way with Ana de Armas rumored to be the star of the upcoming project Ballerina.
With the first film releasing in 2014, Reeves introduced moviegoers around the world to the trained assassin John Wick after he loses his wife and is struggling to cope in a world without her. While he had left his previous life behind him at this point he is forcefully reminded of it at the franchise’s start of no fault of his own however which incites a wave of rage unlike anything Hollywood has ever seen. Reeves has starred in three John Wick films thus far with a fourth scheduled to release next year, and now a spin-off project is rumored to be on the way in the form of Ballerina. The name is a direct inspiration from the franchise’s this film John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum in which there is a scene featuring a young ballerina; now that ballerina has followed in Wick’s footsteps, and it is being said that Ana de Armas could be that ballerina in the upcoming spin-off film. Underworld’s Len Wiseman is rumored to direct with the franchise’s original director Chad Stahelski returning as a producer, however further details about the project remain up in the air.
Lionsgate had already struck gold with the John Wick franchise, and this just adds on to what has already been an incredibly successful venture. Now they are setting themselves up for continued success, and it seems they’ve gotten another talented face to help with their efforts for this upcoming project. Dedicated fans of the franchise will just have to wait and see as more details about Ballerina emerge in the near future.
