Less than five months after the release of John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum (2019), Lionsgate has confirmed that they are already working on a brand new movie in the popular franchise.
The best part? It’s not John Wick 4 — which is already scheduled to hit theatres worldwide in May 2021.
Instead, it will be a female-focused spinoff of the highly popular action series, called Ballerina, according to a report by Variety on Tuesday.
Though it’s unclear who will star in the film, John Wick star Keanu Reeves will be making a return.
Whether that’s on screen or not is unclear, however, he’s already been named the executive producer, with Len Wiseman (Underworld series and Total Recall) by his side serving as the film’s director, rather than Chad Stahelski — who took charge of all three original John Wick films.
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Staying true to the motives of the John Wick character, NME reported that the plot of Ballerina will follow a similar story to the original John Wick trilogy: the story of a young female assassin who is seeking vengeance against the villainous group that murdered her family.
For those who may not know, this “ballerina” character appeared in Parabellum. She was portrayed by Unity Phelan — an actual New York City Ballet dancer.
Though Phelan is not an active actress, it’s currently unclear if she will return to the franchise as the ballerina character.
(L-R) Keanu Reeves and Halle Berry arrive for the premiere of Lionsgate’s ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum’ at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif., on May 15, 2019.
Nina Prommer / EPA
John Wick was created by screenwriter Derek Kolstad and adapted into the first film in 2014. Over the last five years, the box office numbers for each film have skyrocketed beyond expectations.
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No details have yet been revealed about whether Ballerina will be a prequel, sequel or completely separate from the main series.
John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum pulled in more than US$323 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing Lionsgate title on more than half a decade.
As of this writing, Ballerina has no official release date.
The fourth and currently untitled John Wick film is set to hit cinemas worldwide on May 21, 2021.
© 2019 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
