A new trailer for Ballerina lands, and Keanu Reeves has been suggesting that John Wick 5 is now unlikely to happen.
NB: Best not read this if you don’t want to know what happens in John Wick Chapter 4.Spoilersand that.
Given that it began shooting in 2022, it feels like we’ve been talking about the awkwardly-titled From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina for some time now. The film has undergone pretty extensive reshoots according to reports, but Lionsgate, the studio behind the John Wick series of films, will be desperate to see this film succeed.
The assassin-centric franchise has become one of its biggest hitters, earning over a billion dollars at the global box office and costing far, far less to produce. Essentially, it’s become as hard to kill and as strategically-important to the studio as the assassin himself.
However, without a John Wick 5 in the works, Lionsgate will be hoping that series overseer Chad Stahelski can continue to find ways to draw audiences into the world of Wick, even if the main character (played by Keanu Reeves) is no longer the main character.
From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina (thank goodness for copy and paste) is the first attempt to do just that with a cinematic spin-off, following an earlier TV series based around the show’s assassin hangout space, The Continental. There’s also talk of a Donnie Yen-directoed Caine spin-off, developing the story of the series’ blind assassin.
Lionsgate will of course be pushing hard for another mainline John Wick film, but speaking to Extra TV to promote his motorcycle docuseries Visionaries, Reeves said: “you know, the character’s dead. He died in John Wick: Chapter 4.’ I know, in Hollywood you can [revive dead characters]. I know, I know, it’s the Hollywood story. Right now, there isn’t [any plans].”
Reeves will appear in the upcoming Ballerina spin-off (because it’s a prequel), but his statement regarding future projects as the taciturn hitman is the most public dismissal we’ve yet heard. Director Chad Stahelski talked about 'pausing’ the series in the aftermath of John Wick: Chapter 4's release, but if Reeves is playing it straight and not attempting a little misdirection, perhaps that pause could be more of a full stop.
From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina launches in June with Ana de Armas in the (second half of the) title role. Here’s the new trailer below.
