BALLERINA (John Wick spin-off) (TBD) 1 1

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Lionsgate Plotting 'John Wick' Universe With 'Ballerina' Action -script (Exclusive)

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Lionsgate has won a bidding war to pick up a female-centric spec action -script titled Ballerina that will serve as a platform for a possible John Wick spinoff.

 

Basil Iwanyk, whose Thunder Road banner is behind the hit Wick action franchise starring Keanu Reeves, will produce Ballerina. While Lionsgate is relishing the idea of a franchise expansion, the screenwriter behind Ballerina is living out a Hollywood dream.

 

The deal marks the first sale for Shay Hatten, a 23-year-old scribe who idolizes Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) and is currently working as a writer's assistant for Robert Downey Jr.’s production company, Team Downey. Hatten has been on an upward Hollywood trajectory since graduating from Loyola Marymount’s School of Film and Television in 2016. He snagged an internship at Team Downey while writing a black comedy -script, Maximum King!, in his spare time, and that -script led to representation at CAA and ended up on last year’s Black List and Blood List. Hatten was then upped by Downey to writer's assistant, providing -script notes and coverage on the company's many projects while tackling what would become Ballerina on nights and weekends. 

 

Ballerina has been described as being in the vein of La Femme Nikita, the 1990 female-centric assassin movie that helped launch the career of filmmaker Luc Besson, but with a more pulpy, hyper-stylized bent a la Quentin Tarantino or Matthew Vaughn.

 

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Chloë Grace Moretz Being Eyed For John Wick Spinoff ‘BALLERINA’

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She has been kicking since, well Kick , and now Chloë Grace Moretz is being eyed for the lead role in the John Wick spinoff film – Ballerina. Ballerina was first announced last year with Len Wiseman set to direct.  Ballerina focuses on a retired assassin who seeks revenge after her family is murdered, uncovering the secrets behind a quiet European town.

 

Moretz would be playing Rooney Brown, an orphan who is trained to become an elite assassin. She travels the globe eliminating terrorists and other targets. She has a code though and will not kill those she believes does not deserve death. Much like John Wick, Rooney retires and only comes out once her family is murdered.

 

The studio is also in talks with Anjelica Huston to reprise her role as The Director and of course Keanu Reeves as John Wick himself.

 

Nothing is confirmed at this time and no other reports suggest Moretz has been approached to spoken to anyone about the role. We know Moretz can pull off action scenes and she knows her way around a gun that is for sure.

 

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John Wick spin-off Ballerina release date, cast, plot and trailer - What we know so far

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Before we get too far along, we should go ahead and tell you that, regretfully, the release date for Ballerina has not yet been revealed. We can, however, tell you that the project has been in development since 2017, so it's presumably further along in production than some of the other proposed John Wick spin-offs (see also The Continental). Most importantly, there is already a working screenplay for Ballerina (from John Wick 3 scribe Shay Hatten), and the film has netted a director in former Underworld helmer Len Wiseman.

 

While progress is clearly being made on getting Ballerina before cameras sooner rather than later, it appears for the moment that "later" is the more likely time frame. While the behind-the-camera talent is coming together, the on-screen talent is far from settled, and given the current state of the world (i.e. production delays across the entirety of the entertainment industry), it's hard to believe Ballerina will make it before cameras in 2020, though producers are reportedly eyeing a late 2020 start. Given the increasingly complicated nature of release date Jenga studios are currently playing in hopes of getting already "in the can" projects into cinemas, it also seems unlikely that Ballerina will dance into multiplexes until 2022 at the earliest.  

 

 

The good news is that, even if we don't have an idea about when Ballerina will be arriving in theaters, we are starting to get a few about who might be doing the dance of death on the screen when it finally does. As reported by Heroic Hollywood, a casting notice for Ballerina has apparently started making rounds, and if the rumors coming with it are true, it seems the film's producers are eyeing none other than Chloë Grace Moretz for the lead role in the film. 

 

Should that casting come to pass, it'll be more than a little bit on point, as Moretz has already wowed the action-loving cinematic set via her memorable work as Hit Girl in the hyper-violent Kick  superhero flicks. She's also wowed as an actor in several roles since (including 2018's Suspiria, which also happens to be dance-based), so it's clear the John Wick team are looking for someone who can carry the character as well as the physicality. It should be noted, however, that as of this writing, Moretz's involvement in Ballerina is purely rumor.

 

While the cast of Ballerina remains a bit of a mystery, it has all but been confirmed that both Keanu Reeves and Anjelica Huston (who played the director of the deadly ballet academy in John Wick 3) will make some sort of appearance in the film. Hopefully, we'll get more than a cameo from both — particularly Huston's Director, as she remains one of the most intriguing supporting characters in the entirety of the Wick Cinematic Universe.

 

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EXCLUSIVE: Here’s one that’s sure to heat up the impending AFM. Knives Out and No Time To Die star Ana de Armas is in talks to take the lead role in anticipated John Wick spinoff Ballerina, about a young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family.

 

The character made a fleeting appearance in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum as a ballerina who is also training to be an assassin.

 

[Xenosmilus]

Not sure we really need a spin-off...

[Bosco685]

Can't believe we will have two shows from this world.

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Ana de Armas is gearing up to lead her own action franchise. The actor is in talks to lead Ballerina, Lionsgate’s spinoff to Keanu Reeves’ John Wick franchise, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

 

De Armas broke out with Knives Out and is currently in theaters with No Time to Die, in which she partakes in one of its more memorable action sequences.

 

Underworld‘s Len Wiseman is directing Ballerina for Lionsgate. Shay Hatten, who wrote John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum and co-write Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, penned the -script. Producers are Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee and Chad Stahelski, the director behind the John Wick franchise. Brady Fujikawa and Chelsea Kujawa are overseeing the project for Lionsgate.

 

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On 10/28/2021 at 7:17 PM, Xenosmilus said:

Not sure we really need a spin-off...

We don't.

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The long-awaited John Wick: Chapter 4 was delayed due to the pandemic, but the Keanu Reeves-led movie is finally hitting theatres next year. The fourth installment to the franchise that began back in 2014 isn't the only thing to look forward to from the wide world of underground assassins. While Starz is working on The Continental, a prequel set decades before the original films, Lionsgate has a Ballerina feature in development. The film will be based on the group led by Anjelica Huston's character in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Knives Out and No Time To Die star Ana de Armas would be starring in Ballerina. de Armas is currently promoting her new Netflix film, The Gray Man, and revealed in an interview with Elle that she brought in Oscar-winning writer Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) to help with the Ballerina -script.

 

"It was really important for me to hire a female writer, because to that point when I got involved in the project, it was only the director, Len Wiseman, and another guy. And I was like, 'That's not going to work.' So I interviewed, like, five or six female writers. We hired Emerald Fennell, which I was so proud of," de Armas shared. 

 

John Wick director Chad Stahelski is stepping aside for the Ballerina feature, which will be helmed by Len Wiseman. However, Stahelski will serve as an executive producer on the project to make sure it stays in line with the story that was previously established in his films.

 

"Having him [Ballerina director Len Wiseman] on board and approaching some of the action design from a slightly different perspective, meaning the set pieces, the character involvement, how and what he wants to do during the action sequences, makes it kind of fresh," Stahelski previously told THR. "So, we're not just copying ourselves over and over again with gun-fu or something like that. And because the character is different, we're going to get a different take on things. But as far as the level, the competence or the style of action? Yes. I plan to be there to assist whenever I can. And our 87eleven stunt team will be very actively involved in helping Len in all his action needs."

 

[MetalPSI]

Baller-ina

She's gots the ballz

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“Blonde” might begin a new chapter in de Armas’ career, one in which daring dramatic parts fall more frequently into her lap. Asked how the balance between blockbusters and character roles is working for her, de Armas laughs. “Well, not so much lately, because ‘Blonde’ has taken so long coming out that after Bond, everything that’s happened has been in that vein.” After making “No Time to Die,” de Armas booked roles in “The Gray Man,” as well as “Ghosted,” an action romance from Apple (and her third film opposite Evans), and “Ballerina,” a “John Wick” spinoff, which she will shoot this fall.

 

“Without me planning on it, I’m doing all these action films that are fun,” she says, “but touch me in a different way. I hope that now I can start balancing both things, because it has felt very one-note. I’ve done too many together.”

 

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[The Brain]

Reminds me of the Joker from Suicide Squad.

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[Drummy]

I do like de Armas and that poster image has lots of layers -- pretty cool once you start looking at all the choices they made.

Has potential, but definitely not a spinoff I was clamoring for?

Dan