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 John Wick universe, Ballerina is set between the events of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. More specifically, Ballerina takes place about six months after the events in the third film.
John then goes to Berlin to meet Pyotr, the Ruska Roma patriarch, only to discover that he was also killed by the High Table and the syndicate is now run by John's adoptive sister, Katia. She agrees to let John back into Ruska Roma as long as he kills Killa, the German High Table senior who murdered Pyotr.
Lionsgate announced today that Ballerina will be pushed back a full year, with the release date moving from June 7, 2024 to June 6, 2025. Deadline reports that the release date push will give Ballerina the opportunity to do a few reshoots.
By October 2021, Ana de Armas entered negotiations to portray the titular character, a ballerina-assassin named Rooney, replacing Unity Phelan, who previously portrayed the character in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
Ballerina: A John Wick Story – First Trailer (2024) Keanu Reeves, Ana de Armas
Is Ballerina a John Wick spinoff?
'John Wick' Spinoff' 'Ballerina' First Look Drops At Lionsgate's CinemaCon Session; Keanu Reeves Appears In Clip. Flamethrowers, judo chops, Anjelica Huston, a Keanu Reeves cameo and ballet dancing are just some of the things you'll see when Lionsgate drops the first trailer for Ballerina.
John Wick 5 is in development, with Chad Stahelski working on the story. While a release date is yet to be confirmed, the cast is expected to include Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, and Laurence Fishburne. The plot remains a mystery, but fans can expect more adrenaline-fueled action from the legendary hitman.
Even though John Wick 5 has been confirmed to be in development (probably), we don't yet have an official release date for the next movie as of April 2024. The next John Wick movie we see will be the Ana de Armas-led spin-off Ballerina, which takes place between Chapters 3 and 4 in the timeline.
Though news has been scarce, the latest update confirms that John Wick 5 is being written alongside other spinoffs. With the upcoming release of films like Ballerina and the recent series The Continental, the franchise has grown beyond the mainline movies.
John Wick, originally known as Jardani Jovonovich, proudly wears his various aliases like badges of honor in the world of assassins. Wick's most commonly used name is John Wick, with even his deceased wife taking his anglicized last name.
While the John Wick franchise is great at world-building, there has been nothing in the previous three movies that hinted toward Winston being John's biological father. Though the pair grew closer with each consecutive release, they were nothing more than allies in the John Wick series.
Franchise star Ian McShane can't say for sure that his Winston character is the father of Keanu Reeves' John Wick, but he's happy to fuel the fan theories. In John Wick: Chapter 4, it was subtly teased that there may be a family connection between Winston and John Wick.
Although John and Sofia got in trouble with Sofia's former boss, Berrada, both of them managed to escape to the desert, where Sofia left John to find the Elder of the High Table. She has a daughter, whose name and location are unknown.
Where does Ballerina fall in the John Wick timeline?
In the John Wick universe, Ballerina is set between the events of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. More specifically, Ballerina takes place about six months after the events in the third film.
McShane revealed the main reason Ballerina takes place before Chapter 4 is to keep the suspense alive ahead of John Wick 5, which is currently in development. "This one is set in between John Wick 3 and John Wick 4, because Keanu is in it, too.
Set between the events of the third and fourth John Wick films, Ballerina stars Armas as an assassin trained in the tradition of the Ruska Roma, one of the 12 international criminal organizations that holds a seat at the High Table in John Wick lore.
Keanu Reeves has made $22 million for playing John Wick, with the bulk of that being his $15 million salary for John Wick: Chapter 4. Reeves' salaries for the earlier John Wick movies ranged from $1-2 million to $2-2.5 million, showing a significant increase over time.
John Wick: Chapter 4, released on March 24, 2023, takes place six months after the third installment. Since the events between the first and the fourth happened the same year, John Wick is still either 50 years old or maybe 51. Although the character's age stays the same, Keanu Reeves's age changed from the first film.
His superior, Viggo Tarasov, promised to allow John to quit if he first completed an "impossible task": killing all of Tarasov's enemies in a single night. Having succeeded, John retired and lived peacefully for just over five years.
Originally planned as the series finale, John Wick 5 might be the last mainline movie with Reeves in the titular role, considering his age and the physical demands of the franchise. However, the John Wick universe is expanding with spin-offs and prequels, ensuring the legacy of the iconic hitman endures.
Back in October 2022, Keanu Reeves appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and suggested that the superhero his childhood self would have wanted to play would be Ghost Rider. This led to a massive increase in fan-made art and theories placing Keanu Reeves as Ghost Rider, but this popular choice hasn't yet been confirmed.
