“Ballerina” Theatrical Poster
If you’ve seen Ana de Armas’ butt-kicking capabilities in No Time To Die or Ghosted, you know she’s capable of of more than just beauty. With that said, De Armas (Knives Out) teams up with Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman for Lionsgate’s Ballerina, a spinoff of the expanding John Wick franchise.
Franchise stars including John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves, as well as Ian McShane (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum), Anjelica Huston (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum) and Lance Reddick (John Wick: Chapter 2) will have appearances as their respective roles from the previous films.
New co-stars include Norman Reedus (Walking Dead), Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace), Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects), Togo Igawa (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) and Jung Doo-Hung (Fist and Furious).
The studio’s plan is to fine tune the story so it fits within John Wick, John Wick: Chapter 2, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – and of course, the upcoming TV series, The Continental.
The fight choreography for the film is handled by Caleb Spillyards (Black Lightning, The System) and Anis Cheurfa (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom).
Ballerina is being produced by Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee and Chad Stahelski, with John Wick star Keanu Reeves an executive producer along with Kaley Smalley, head of development for Wiseman’s Sketch Films (via Deadline).
Ballerina is due in theaters on June 6, 2025. Don’t miss the film’s Final Trailer:
“Ares from John Wick 2 starring Ruby Rose perhaps?”
I guess that’d mean it’d have to be a prequel…but either way, I’d rather watch a Don Wilson ‘Bloodfist’ marathon than endure 90 minutes of Ruby Rose.
PS The best use of a trailer in the context of what’s being posted since COF started using YouTube clips, actually laughed out loud when I read it!
i agree with you
“I’d rather watch a Don Wilson ‘Bloodfist’ marathon than endure 90 minutes of Ruby Rose.”
Amen!
A Bloodfist marathon is an unintentional hilarious time, man! You’re gonna have to come up with a better analogy than that. 🙂
they need to give the role to Bianca Bree she is very good at martial arts and she is very beautiful
Len Wiseman
One of the worst with Paul W.S. Anderson, Rob Cohen,…
Glad I quit that crap after the ridiculous John Wick 2.
All of John Wick movies are great. So be careful of you’re talking about them!!!!!
I’m so afraid.
Fuck John Wick.
I think De Armas will be spectacular but how many “a young woman raised as an assassin who must hunt down the other assassins that murdered her family” movies do we need? She deserves better.
I’m sure this one will try to be different from previous assassin films and mostly be an action showcase for De Armas. Although I’m hoping she does a majority of her action unlike in No Time to Die where most of her fight was Monia Moula with her face digitally placed on her.
My issue is the director. But the again, we’re talking about a John Wick spin-off. So maybe he’s a perfect choice, given they have the right team working on the cracklin’ action!
I think personally the Len Wiseman hate is a little misplaced. UNDERWORLD & UNDERWORLD EVOLUTION are no masterpieces but perfectly watchable action fantasy flicks (plus Kate Beckinsale in tight leather can never NOT be a good thing). Apart from a misguided decision to make it PG-13, LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD is pretty damned entertaining. And even his TOTAL RECALL remake had some good action and BLADE RUNNER-style world building, although the second half fizzles and it was always doomed to be in the shadow of the Arnie original. As the ROBOCOP reboot proved, NEVER attempt to remake a Paul Verhoeven classic!
Agree on NEVER remake a Verhoeven classic! Too bad he didn’t get to direct a Conan flick.
Does the R-Rated LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD have the digital shot where a car flips over Bruce and Justin Long? If so, the hate is not misplaced hehe But I will say this: Wiseman makes John Moore (A Good Day To Die Hard) look like Sergio Leone.
I wonder if someone at LG got scared because of The Marvels and Madame Web bombing.
Jung Doo-hong is someone who I wish became a huge action star. He was the best part about No Blood, No Tears even though he wasn’t fully utilized. He fared better as the villain in Arahan, but then City of Violence ended up being disappointing.
I hope Ballerina has a cool fight scene with him and Ana De Armas. At least one as good as Keanu Reeves vs Daniel Bernhardt.
Seeing Lance again gonna be bittersweet.
Trailer looks good and fight choreography looks sharp. Definitely a watch for me. Already wanted a blue ray collection.
Here we go again, your average netflix movie in the John-Wick-Universe. John Wick 3 & 4 were actually terrible, now who needs this?
Let’s be real: Were any of them really good? lol But I hear you.
John Wick is the most over rated action franchise. The fact that MAGAs love the movies makes it even more off putting to me. Come on Anonymous tell me I’m wrong
You’re feeding the trolls. Whenever the anonymous terrorist or glue sniffer’s handles pop up, I know not to read their comments because they have nothing of value to type.
It’s silly to dislike whatever movie just because alt right idiots like them. They have skin just like I do, so should I tear mine off so that I have one less thing in common with them?
I love Asian action cinema, I love John Wick, and I love when Western film makers are heavily influenced by Asian cinema and do their best to make something cool. There’s room for all of those films.
Additionally, I thought your comment was for The Killer ‘22 thread and not Ballerina, so I am not a good role model.
Sorry I can’t help myself sometimes. I just find it weird that someone who doesn’t like Asian cinema or cannot handle the fact that the way action is presented on screen today is a direct result of Asian action cinema.
On a serious note though I do find the John Wick movies over rated. The first one had a great hook – take revenge for the dog, the last thing he has that is a part of his dead wife. The sequels all double downed on stuff I think is cringe – the coins, the high table, etc etc resulting in the embarrassment that is the JW4 bullet proof suit jacket. There’s literally no story to any of the sequels. Which means its all down to the action sequences. For every John Wick 3 library scene theres 5 other boring headshot headshot roll around on the floor headshot scenes. The best thing about these movies is that its made me revisit the Matrix movies multiple times and made me re-evaluate them. Honestly think Matrix 2 and 3 are almost as good as the original. I even have a soft spot for the trainwreck that is matrix 4.
I also love it when movie makers influence each other/rip each other off. Its just that I prefer hand to hand action or Woo style slowmo bromance action. So I would be more excited about Atomic Blonde 2 or a Kate 2 rather than a John Wick 5 as well. But hey who knows maybe they will figure out a proper story for JW5 and i’ll eat my words.
What’s wrong with bullet proof suits? It makes sense to have something that’s tactical and fashionable! Lol. (They were introduced before Part 4)
I think the franchise would do well to change up the formula a bit like the Extraction movies have, but they’ve mostly done it well.
I know people say the weapons shop fight scene in Part 3 was the best action scene, but I loved the horse chase sequence, Keanu Reeves’ and Halle Berry’s big action sequence was my personal favorite with the way they used teamwork and everything flowed nicely.
The motorcycle action scene that paid tribute to The Villainess was done well, and the finale where Reeves had to work extra hard against the heavily armored henchmen was exciting.
Admittedly, Part 4 peaked with everything in Okinawa, and most of the other action scenes paled in comparison since they felt under or overcooked.
I’m looking forward to Ballerina presenting the action differently. I know Len Wiseman gets a lot of shit, but I think he films action scenes well, and he gets creative with how to frame it all.
I’m cautiously optimistic on Ballerina. Ana de Armas was so good in Knives Out and Bladerunner 2047. Nobody expects a classic but an engaging story and exciting action scenes would be a welcome change in the franchise. JW4 really killed my enthusiasm for any of the people involved. I literally rolled my eyes when they homaged The Warriors. The one take overhead gun fight one is an example of long takes gone wrong. And did we really need to see Keanu fall down the stairs for a minute and watch him fight his way back up again.
I’m critical of a lot of things in Part 4, but the overhead shootout that was a tribute to Hong Kong Massacre was the only other action scene that compared to Okinawa in my view.
While the rest of the stair sequence didn’t pique my fancy, I laughed my ass off when Reeves kept falling and falling. It was one of those things where first it’s funny, then it stops being funny, and then becomes funny again.
“Sorry I can’t help myself sometimes. I just find it weird that someone who doesn’t like Asian cinema or cannot handle the fact that the way action is presented on screen today is a direct result of Asian action cinema.”
The action genre existed before Asian action cinema. Asian action cinema did not create the action genre.
First Blood, Commando, Die Hard, Robocop, Dirty Harry, James Bond, The Terminator 1 and 2, Total Recall etc have nothing to do with Asian action cinema and I’ll take them over any Asian action movie ever made. Also I’ll take John Wick films over any Asian action movie ever made and it’s not even close.
It doesn’t matter what anybody says, films are always going to be subjective.
Dude, what are you actually doing here?
Why the f… are you here?
Oh, it’s good to know that China ain’t the cradle of martial arts.
Who are you to tell where I should I post and shouldn’t post.
I’ll post wherever I want to and whatever I want to, you loser. I don’t yours or anybodys permission.
I smell Trump Derangement Syndrome.
JD mistook me for a couch…I’m soiled now
I’m not even from the US. Keep whining, you paranoid loser.
not sure who you are referring to, but i’m actually on your side brother. My top action films of all time are not even ASIAN. Do you have a name? We do not want to confuse you with other “Anonymous” peeps.
I like this trailer, but they showed too many money shots. They should have kept the grenade in mouth a secret. It looks like Ana De Armas showed a lot of dedication to learning all the various screen fighting techniques. I’ve always liked Len Wiseman’s eye for action, and I think he’ll have a unique approach in shooting technical fight choreography.
If this is a success, it’ll speed up Donnie Yen’s solo Caine film!
“If this is a success, it’ll speed up Donnie Yen’s solo Caine film!”
Couldn’t care less about a Caine movie (I stopped at the second John Wick), so I hope it’ll bomb.
Really not sure about another Ip Man (the 4th one one wasn’t horrible, but…let’s say I love the the two first ones and the third ain’t bad at all), but I want another thing like Flashpoint (underrated like …).
I’ve been reading reports about how the first cut for Ballerina got a lousy reaction from test audiences, with one of them going so far as to say it was a “franchise killer.” It was said that Chad Stahelski had to come in and direct new action scenes with no input from Wiseman, and essentially save this movie. Wiseman denies this, and I have no idea if any of this is hearsay.
I don’t mind being the only person who liked Wiseman’s Total Recall. (The extended cut is better) And I love the unrated version of Die Hard 4. (Fuck that other title.)
What makes the unrated version of Die Hard 4 better than Live Free or Die Hard? Curious!
Well, the blood that was digitally removed in the theatrical cut is back, the action scenes aren’t messily longer, but they’re more detailed. There’s also more uses of the word “fuck,” including McClane’s one liner not getting cut off by the gunshot. There’s alternate scenes of dialogue, and all of these aspects make it feel like the film it was supposed to be.
Now I’m interested.
Official fanfic, I mean, music video. https://youtu.be/G5fFdIoS8p8?si=_RJsEvX9uaxPwoeb
Ballerina was great. It seems like 87North embraced the motto of Keep It Simple, Stupid and made an action movie the way it should be.
John Wick 4 made the mistake of trying to reinvent the wheel and overcomplicate everything including the action scenes, so it was great to see fight scenes and shootouts where there’s no interruptions, it’s all point A to B, and everybody’s techniques are well on display.
Ana De Armas does a great job and seeing the behind the scenes footage of her training showed that she had a lot of enthusiasm. I wished for a decent bout with her vs Jung Doo-Hong, and it came true. He got to show off his skills nicely, and although I was disappointed that De Armas needed weapons to handle him and his henchmen, it made sense from a story perspective since it was her first assignment.
Daniel Bernhardt even shows up as another henchman and has a great fight with De Armas. Even though he hasn’t been seen since John Wick 1, I’m guessing that he was like James Remar in Django Unchained and he plays 2 characters.
While the action scenes avoided stupid gimmicks, there was still some creativity employed which included great uses of grenades, flame throwers, and ice skates. Ballerina certainly was a good action junkie fix that kept me from going through withdrawal.
SPOILERS
I agree the action scenes hit the spot and are really well designed and executed. BUT what happened to the story. OK no one comes into these movies expecting a treatise on the nature of man and his inherent violence, but maybe having more than 10 minutes out of 120 minutes runtime trying to create some drama or deepen caracter relationships would have helped the movie. Walking Dead Daryl turns up with his daughter and for no other reason that moving the plot forward she protects them. and then he disappears until the end. We then find out she has a sister and then she dies literally 30 seconds later!!! Also why does John Wick help her? Its not setup previously that they have any connection besides that one time they met. Did she walk his puppy? was she a friend of a friend?
Its an easy 3/5. Could have been better. Still prefer Kate and Atomic Blonde. Better than anything starring Len Wisemans ex though.
“Better than anything starring Len Wisemans ex tho” lol
SPOILERS
Norman Reedus probably had a bigger role originally before Chad Stahelski took over directing and basically redid most of the movie.
The whole sister thing was completely unnecessary. If the movie wasn’t going to build on that, it shouldn’t have been there in the first place. In the case of Eve and John, he helped her because they saw something in each other. It was like an unspoken connection where they seemed to have similarities about being efficient killers and not wanting to be in this life.
He didn’t want to kill her in the first place, and helping her was a better way to make sure everything else would get sorted out. More character development would have been welcome, but I felt like the film moved at a good enough pace to where it wasn’t an issue.
END SPOILERS
I feel bad for Kate Beckinsale because she has the action chops but Jolt and Underworld: Blood Wars didn’t do her any favors. Canary Black was decent, and I was disappointed in its negative reception.
Maybe an unpopular opinion but chad stahelski is an overrated filmmaker. The first John Wick was pretty decent. But everything after that is just totally unnecessary. Its funny how its the Matrix sequels that get shit on and not the John Wicks ones
Dude has eye for visuals for sure but at some point he needs to be able to tell an interesting story.
He’s only overrated in your head, friendo.
The only thing that I don’t like about the Matrix 2&3 was the abuse of CGI. The multiple Smiths were convincing, but CGI Neo took me out of the movies, and those scenes could have been done with practical effects. Everything else I dug.
Stahelski is not an auteur yet, but as far as knowing how to film action scenes, he does a great job. I do hope that he takes the time to develop more of a visual flair and get audiences emotionally involved like the people who influenced him.
“Dude has eye for visuals for sure but at some point he needs to be able to tell an interesting story.”
👍
My Wick rankings:
1. John Wick
2. John Wick 2
3. Ballerina
4. John wick 3
5. John Wick 4
That seems fair. Not everyone has to like this franchise, but it should be appreciated that the film makers have encouraged and reminded others to keep all the action within the frame of the camera, use longer shots, not to use choppy editing, and that action movies are better when the actors train for them and aren’t doubled for everything.
I do think Sam Hargrove and company are keeping things fresher and more creative.
Sam Hargrove is an excellent action director. The two Extraction films are solid.
Yes! I think Stahelski and Leitch would benefit from his playbook.