A new female-centric John Wick spin-off titled Ballerina is reportedly in the works from director Len Wiseman.
The report comes from Deadline who details that “Ballerina focuses on a young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family.”
A character named Ballerina played by actress Unity Phelan is listed in the casting credits on IMDB. However, Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. is unclear who the star of this reported spin-off will be. Also up in the air is whether or not Keanu Reeves will appear in the film. Fleming speculates that if he does it will be in a cameo role.
The script is reportedly written by Shay Hatten who previously wrote the screenplay for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. He also wrote the script for director Zack Snyder’s upcoming Army of the Dead film.
Len Wiseman is no stranger to high-octane action films with a female lead. He directed Underworld and Underworld Evolution starring Kate Beckinsale as the vampire Selene. Wiseman’s crdits also include Live Free or Die Hard, Total Recall and a number of TV episodes including Sleepy Hollow, Lucifer, The Gifted, and Swamp Thing.
Wiseman was also reportedly attached to the Die Hard series film McClane. However, it’s unclear what Disney plans to do with the film. Although rumors have indicated they plan on rebooting the franchise. He will also be directing an announced Sin City TV series.
Ballerina will be produced by Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, and Chad Stahleski. Keanue Reeves will be an executive producer alongside Kaley Smalley.
The John Wick franchise was launched with John Wick in 2014. According to The Numbers, the film had a production budget of $30 million. It would go on to earn $43 million at the domestic box office and $76.2 million worldwide.
The film has already spawned two sequels. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum released this past May with a production budget of $40 million. It would earn $171 million at the domestic box office and $319.6 million globally.
Deadline reports that Parabellum “is the highest-grossing home entertainment title Lionsgate has released in more than five years.”
The first John Wick film sold an estimated $39 million in domestic video sales. John Wick: Chapter Two sold an estimated $40 million. The Numbers has not released information regarding Parabellum’s estimated domestic video sales. The film was just released on VOD and Blu-ray and DVD in September.
But when your domestic video sales are covering your production costs for the film, you’ve got a hit and I expect Lionsgate to continue to flesh out the John Wick universe with more titles and spin-offs.
What do you make of a female-centric John Wick spin-off?