John Wick director Chad Stahelski has some pretty bad news about the franchise’s upcoming spin-off. While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Stahelski revealed that Keanu Reeves won’t appear in the spin-off about a blind assassin named Caine, who Donnie Yen plays. Even though Reeves has a cameo in Ballerina, Stahelski wants Caine to stand on its own.
“The Donnie Yen spin-off won’t feature John Wick. It’s more of a tribute to classic kung fu films,” he explained. “Think Chow Yun-fat, John Woo, and Wong Kar-wai, rather than sticking to the same style as the core Wick movies.”
At CinemaCon earlier this year, it was announced that Donnie Yen will direct and star in Caine, which was greenlit by Lionsgate not too long ago. The script is being written by Mattson Tomlin, who’s known for his work on The Batman Part II and Terminator Zero. Production is expected to begin later this year.
In the meantime, Keanu Reeves returns as John Wick in Ballerina, a spin-off following Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, an assassin tied to the Ruska Roma family (the same one Wick belonged to). Other returning characters include Anjelica Huston as The Director, Ian McShane as Winston, and the late Lance Reddick as Charon. There are also some new faces in the franchise: Norman Reedus, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Gabriel Byrne.
Ballerina is directed by Len Wiseman and written by Shay Hatten.
Debuting in theaters today, Ballerina takes place between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 and follows Eve’s mission to avenge her father’s death.
Reeves won’t be in Caine, but there’s still hope for John Wick 5. The script isn’t finalized yet, but Stahelski says development is going well and writer Mike Finch has a strong idea to pitch to Reeves soon.
