Movies

Spin-Off to Keanu Reeves' Iconic $1.1B Franchise Gets a Disheartening Update

Spin-Off to Keanu Reeves' Iconic $1.1B Franchise Gets a Disheartening Update
Image credit: Lionsgate, Legion-Media, United Artists Releasing

If you want more John Wick in your life, you’ll have to wait longer than you thought.

Summary:

  • John Wick is one of the most successful action franchises in history with several spin-offs planned.
  • As per Deadline, the first spin-off Ballerina’s release date was just pushed back a year, to June 6, 2025.
  • In Ballerina, we might see a face-off between Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves ’s assassin characters.

The John Wick movies are the latest golden standard for action films for a good reason, and fans could never get enough of their unhinged yet spectacular fighting scenes. Keanu Reeves’s character’s untimely death in the finale of the fourth installment ruined everyone’s fun, but the John Wick universe didn’t end there.

In fact, it’s supposed to feature a few spin-offs — but the closest one just got further.

John Wick Spin-off Ballerina Faces Delays

Ballerina, the first John Wick spin-off and this universe, second standalone entry, will follow Ana de Armas’s character on her path to revenge. Similarly to Keanu Reeves’s titular protagonist, she wants to seek out those who killed her family and avenge her loved ones. Rejoyce, people: self-righteous bloodbaths are back!

Spin-Off to Keanu Reeves' Iconic $1.1B Franchise Gets a Disheartening Update - image 1

Well, not exactly back… Not any time soon, anyways.

Ballerina was scheduled for a June 7, 2024 release, but it was recently pushed an entire year back, to June 6, 2025, according to Deadline. Admittedly, the reason for such a significant delay is that Chad Stahelski, who’s only producing Ballerina, wants to add more signature fighting sequences into the Len Wiseman-directed movie.

While some fans are concerned about Ballerina’s fate as it’s not directed by Stahelski himself, the very fact that he can still postpone the release date so much just to ensure the quality of the franchise’s best parts is rather inspiring.

Ballerina Could Be Hunting John Wick

The official information about Ballerina’s plot is surprisingly scarce: the origin and motivation of Ana de Armas’s character are pretty much all we know, leaving much room for speculation. She’s hunting down the people who slaughtered her family, but what if it’s “family” in the Dom Toretto way and actually means the Ruska Roma girls she grew up with?

John Wick memorably left the ballerinas pretty…hurt in Parabellum, and the events of Ballerina will take place immediately after that, taking us back in time. This allows us to speculate that we should prepare for a face-off between Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas in the upcoming movie — and we’re very much game for it.

Source: Deadline