Cameras will soon start rolling on Ballerina, the first feature film in the John Wick series to introduce a new assassin as the protagonist. Over the course of three movies, Keanu Reeves has led the franchise to great success, and he will be seen back in his role as John Wick when the fourth film hits theaters in March. Meanwhile, the franchise will expand when Ana de Armas takes the lead in Ballerina with production slated to start in the coming days.

This new update on the project comes from a recent investors' call with Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer addressing the franchise's future, per IndieWire. It was mentioned that Ballerina officially starts production next week, so we can presume that the movie's scenes will be filming very soon. The moment marks a long time coming for Ballerina, which was first announced back in 2017.

Other news to come along during the call concerns plans for a video game to be made based on the franchise. Feltheimer said he hopes to have AAA game developed for John Wick and is currently discussing the opportunity with potential developers. He also mentioned The Continental, another spinoff to John Wick in the form of a prequel series set decades before the events of the movies. Domestically, The Continental will be streaming on Peacock, and it was announced that it will also stream on Prime Video internationally.

Related: John Wick: The Best Characters in the Franchise, Ranked

Ana de Armas Had One Condition for Joining the Cast of Ballerina

Ana de Armas as Marta in Knives Out
Lionsgate Films

When Ana de Armas boarded Ballerina, she had one requirement for her casting. She insisted that the spinoff be written by a woman, feeling that this was more fitting for the female-led John Wick spinoff. Ultimately, Armas personally chose Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) to pen the screenplay for the film.

"It was really important for me to hire a female writer, because to that point when I got involved in the project, it was only the director, Len Wiseman, and another guy. And I was like, ‘That’s not going to work.’ So I interviewed, like, five or six female writers," the actress told Elle.

Franchise director Chad Stahelski, who is serving as a producer on Ballerina, also teased how the film will be different from the John Wick movies led by Keanu Reeves.

"The director has a lot to do, especially someone as stylistic and as good as Len is," Stahelski told THR back in 2020. "Having him on board and approaching some of the action design from a slightly different perspective, meaning the set pieces, the character involvement, how and what he wants to do during the action sequences, makes it kind of fresh. So, we’re not just copying ourselves over and over again with gun-fu or something like that. And because the character is different, we’re going to get a different take on things."

Ballerina doesn't yet have a premiere date. Meanwhile, you can look forward to seeing the franchise return to theaters when John Wick: Chapter 4 comes to the big screen on March 24, 2023.