John Wick spin-off Ballerina has kicked off filming in Prague this week, and it looks like Ana de Armas will be joined by the main man of the franchise in the action movie. A new report by Collider confirmed that Keanu Reeves will be reprising his role as Wick in the film, although there has been no word yet on how big a part he will play in the highly anticipated off-shoot of the John Wick franchise. The news came at the same time as the reveal that Ian McShane would also be making an appearance as the manager of The Continental Hotel, Winston.
Ballerina is just one of the John Wick projects currently in production, with John Wick 4 already bringing Reeves back to screens in March 2023, and prequel event series The Continental taking the story back in time to the early years of Winston’s life. Where Ballerina will sit in the current Wick timeline is unclear at the moment, but it seems like the film will include a number of crossovers with the main Wick series of movies that may not stop at Reeves and McShane.
When it was originally announced, Ballerina was pitched as a story centering on “a young woman raised as an assassin who must hunt down the other assassins that murdered her family.” De Armas’ did not become linked to the movie until last year, but after her fleeting appearance in Daniel Craig’s final Bond outing No Time To Die, fans were more than happy with the choice.
Will Ballerina Become Its Own Franchise?
It is hard to deny the popularity of the John Wick franchise, having come from relatively low expectations to be one of Keanu Reeves’ most successful franchises to date. Whether that success will travel across into its spin-offs is yet to be seen, but with an appearance by regulars Reeves and McShane, and the growing profile of de Armas, there is plenty to suggest that if Ballerina performs well, it could well become its own franchise within the Wick saga.
Ana de Armas has seen her popularity soar In the last year, sky-rocketing from a relative unknown to leading lady in a shockingly short space of time. Her scene-stealing appearance in No Time To Die certainly made it apparent why she would be perfect for the lead role in an action-based John Wick spin-off, while taking on the role of Marilyn Monroe in Netflix’s Blonde saw her deliver a performance that was captivating enough to immediately have her name mentioned in the same sentence as Academy Award nominations.
The actress today shared an image from the set of Ballerina, showing herself being made up to begin filming, which she tagged with the comment that the first day of filming was “awesome.” Fans are already hyped for the continuation of the John Wick story in next year’s John Wick 4, and Ballerina and The Continental will certainly help in a big way to bridge the gap to the fifth movie in the main franchise, which is still expected to be made in the next few years.