Len Wiseman to Helm John Wick Spinoff Ballerina, Reeves Producing

Deadline is reporting that Len Wiseman (Underworld, Total Recall, Live Free or Die Hard) will be directing Ballerina, the John Wick spinoff from Lionsgate to expand the action franchise’s universe in a female-led project.

Ballerina focuses on a young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family. Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum) wrote the script. The movie will be overseen by James Myers for Lionsgate.

The spinoff is produced by Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Keanu Reeves, and Chad Stahelski. In John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, John (Keanu Reeves) comes across what could be the titular ballerina, or, at least, where the new character likely comes from.

The original John Wick, directed by David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, hit theaters 2014 and found an immediate fanbase. A first sequel, John Wick: Chapter Two, hit theaters in 2017. In it, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is forced back out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome where he squares off against some of the world’s deadliest killers. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum released earlier this year and followed John going on the run as he’s being hunted for a global $14 million dollar open contract on his life and for breaking a central rule: taking a life on Continental Hotel grounds. The movie earned more than $323 million at the worldwide box office.

Lionsgate is developing John Wick 4, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 21, 2021. There is also a television spinoff prequel series in the works from Starz, titled The Continental.