John Wick Presents: Ballerina is an upcoming American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Len Wiseman, from a script written by Shay Hatten, Michael Finch, and Emerald Fennell, based on an original story by Hatten. It is a spin-off and the fifth film in the John Wick franchise, set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). It stars Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves. In the film, ballerina-assassin Rooney (Armas) hunts those who killed her family. This is Reddick's final screen role, which will be released posthumously in 2025.
Lionsgate acquired Hatten's spec script for the film in 2017, leading to him contributing to the final screenplay for Parabellum and then serving as the lead writer for Chapter 4. In October 2019, Wiseman was hired as director, with Chad Stahelski confirmed as a producer by May 2020. Ballerina was officially announced in April 2022, with de Armas confirmed to be replacing Unity Phelan, who portrayed the character in Parabellum, in the lead role; by that November, the rest of the main cast was rounded out. Principal photography began soon after, taking place in Prague, Czech Republic. Additional action sequences were shot starting in February 2024.
The film is scheduled to be released on June 6, 2025.
Taking place between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Chapter 4,[3] ballerina-assassin Rooney hunts the murderers of her family.
- Ana de Armas as Rooney, a ballerina who seeks revenge by hunting the murderers of her family. According to co-star Ian McShane, the character is under the protection of Winston and Charon in the New York Continental Hotel during the course of the film.[2] The character was previously portrayed by Unity Phelan in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).[4]
- Anjelica Huston as "The Director"[5]
- Keanu Reeves as John Wick, a professional hitman and legendary assassin who has gained a reputation for his skills and is on the run from the High Table.
- Gabriel Byrne as the main antagonist of the film who leads a town against Rooney.[2][6]
- Lance Reddick as Charon, the concierge at the Continental Hotel in New York and friend of Winston Scott and acquaintance of John Wick.[7] This was Reddick's final appearance as Charon, and overall final on-screen appearance released posthumously.[8]
- Catalina Sandino Moreno[9]
- Norman Reedus[10]
- Ian McShane as Winston Scott, the enigmatic owner of the Continental Hotel and friend of John Wick.[11]
- Sharon Duncan-Brewster
- David Castañeda
In July 2017, Lionsgate Films acquired Shay Hatten's action thriller Ballerina, with Thunder Road Films producing the film with Hatten rewriting the script to be a part of the John Wick franchise, with the title character, Rooney, ultimately being written into the third main film, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum in a cameo role ahead of the production of Ballerina, portrayed by Unity Phelan.[12] At the end of the year, the script was voted onto The Black List of best unproduced screenplays in 2017.[13] By October 2019, Len Wiseman was hired to direct the film.[14] In May 2020, Stahelski stated that Wiseman had read the script earlier, and approached the studio with a pitch of how he would develop the project, based on Hatten's draft, for which the proof of concept had previously been uploaded to YouTube in September 2017.[15] Stahelski met with Wiseman, and approached executives to hire the filmmaker. He confirmed that he and his team will work closely with Wiseman on the action sequences and stunts for the film, while acknowledging that Wiseman's filmmaking style will add variety to the franchise. At that point, Wiseman and Hatten were working on a newer draft of the script.[16] By April 2022, Lionsgate officially announced the film at CinemaCon.[4] In July 2022, Emerald Fennell was hired to contribute to the script as one of its writers.[17]
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In May 2020, it was reported that the studio was looking for an actress to star in the film, with Chloë Grace Moretz as the template for the kind of talent they were looking for.[18] By October 2021, Ana de Armas entered negotiations to play the titular character, a ballerina-assassin named Rooney, replacing Unity Phelan, who previously portrayed the character in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).[19] By April 2022 at CinemaCon, Lionsgate officially announced that de Armas would star in the lead role.[4] In November 2022, it was announced that Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, and Anjelica Huston had joined the cast and will reprise their roles from previous films of the franchise; as John Wick, Winston Scott, Charon, and "the Director", respectively;[11][20][5][7] it also marks the third collaboration between de Armas and Reeves, having previously worked together in Knock Knock (2015) and Exposed (2016). In December 2022, Gabriel Byrne, Norman Reedus, and Catalina Sandino Moreno joined the supporting cast in undisclosed roles.[9][10][21] During reshoots in 2024, David Castañeda and Sharon Duncan-Brewster joined the cast.[22]
Initially scheduled to commence in summer 2022,[4] principal photography officially began on November 7, 2022, in Prague, Czech Republic.[23][11][24] Ballerina was in post-production in February 2023.[25] In February 2024, producer Chad Stahelski was working on additional action sequences for the film with director Len Wiseman.[26] On April 26, 2024, makeup department member Tina Roesler Kerwin posted in her Instagram account that Ballerina had officially wrapped.[citation needed]
The music score was composed in collaboration by Marco Beltrami and Anna Drubich, which they commenced on April 17, 2023.[27]
The first marketing material for the film, shown at the 2024 CinemaCon convention, was a short teaser trailer released to the closed-door audience.[28] Entertainment Weekly reported that the trailer included Charon, Winston, Norman Reedus's undisclosed character, and Wick in a cameo appearance at the end.[29] There, it was revealed that the film's title had been appended from Ballerina to John Wick Presents: Ballerina.[30][31] Bleeding Cool called the footage "exactly what CinemaCon dreams are made of".[32] Variety remarked that the trailer was "heavy on ass-kicking" and called the combat showcased "brutal", mentioning Rooney's use of a flamethrower during a sequence.[33]
John Wick Presents: Ballerina is scheduled to be released in the United States and the United Kingdom on June 6, 2025.[34] It was previously scheduled to be released on June 7, 2024.[35]
In March 2023, producer Erica Lee stated that the studio has tentative plans to develop a sequel starring Ana de Armas.[36]