The John Wick universe is set to get even bigger in 2025, when its first movie spin-off, Ballerina, officially lands in theaters. This movie will see Ana de Armas in the leading role as an assassin looking to get revenge for the killing of her family, but she’s not just another John Wick.
Ballerina takes place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3, and it even features the franchise’s iconic titular character in its trailer. However, for the most part, this story will be completely separate from what is going on with Mr. Wick.
In a new featurette released to Lionsgate — the production company behind the movie — we get a better look at the behind-the-scenes of this film, along with some new scenes from the movie that were not included in its first trailer. During the video, we get more insight into the vision of the movie, which will look to introduce Eve as her own character without relying too heavily on John Wick being around.
“This is not a female John Wick,” director Len Wiseman said of Ana de Armas’ character in the film. “This is a story about Eve coming into it from the beginning.”
As the footage continues on we see a lot of action sequences with de Armas in full control, and we even get some insight into her thoughts both before and during the filming of the movie. As you would expect given the incredible choreography that she performs, becoming Eve was accompanied by plenty of nerves.
“I was excited, I was nervous, I was worried. The way that the fights are built you have to be prepared for whatever they throw at you. It was a kind of discipline both physical and mental that I didn’t know before.”
There are a lot of action scenes in this featurette including de Armas diving into tables, performing Sambo takedowns, and yes, a whole heap of gunplay (this is a John Wick spinoff, after all). All of these scenes were performed by the actress and they look just as incredible as anything we’ve seen in the franchise so far. Kudos to you, Ana.
Alongside the film’s director and leading star, we also hear from other cast members who will be showing up during the movie, including Ian McShane (who will return as Winston), and the late great Lance Reddick, who also shows up in the film as Charon.
While all of your favorite characters from the John Wick universe are set to cameo in the movie, there are still a lot of newcomers set to debut. These include Norman Reedus, Robert Maaser, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and Abraham Popoola. Things are ramping up for Ballerina as we get closer to its release. The movie is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 6, 2025, so expect a lot more to be revealed in the months from now to then.
That might seem like a while, but the good news is that it will give you plenty of time to catch up on everything that has gone down in the universe so far before it gets here. All four John Wick movies are available to rent or buy via the usual digital retailers.