John Wick

Lore & Background

John Wick is a retired assassin who returns to his old ways after a group of Russian gangsters steal his car and kill his puppy which was given to him by his late wife Helen. Forced to honor a debt from his past life, John Wick is sent to assassinate a target he has no wish to kill, where he faces betrayal at the hands of his sponsor. John Wick is declared excommunicado after killing an international crime lord on Continental grounds, where he sets out to save himself from bounty hunters and assassins. John Wick takes his fight against the High Table global as he seeks out more powerful players in the underworld from different countries.

Reader's Guide

In July 2017, Lionsgate announced the development of a spinoff film written by Shay Hatten and titled Ballerina. The studio intends to expand the franchise with installments set within the same fictional world. The story, written as a speculative script based on Hatten's love for the John Wick films before being purchased by Lionsgate, involves a young woman who is raised to be an assassin, and seeks revenge on the hitmen who killed her family. Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee were to serve as producers.

The project was to be developed by Thunder Road Films. In October 2019, Len Wiseman signed onto the project as director, with Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski serving as executive producer and producer, respectively. The film would follow the same ballerina character previously portrayed by Unity Phelan in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. In May 2020, Stahelski stated that Wiseman had read the script earlier, and approached the studio with a pitch of how he would develop the project, based on Hatten's draft, for which the proof of concept had previously been uploaded to YouTube in September 2017.

Stahelski met with Wiseman and approached executives to hire the filmmaker. He confirmed that his team and he would work closely with Wiseman on the action sequences and stunts for the film, while acknowledging that Wiseman's filmmaking style would add variety to the franchise. At that point, Wiseman and Hatten were working on a newer draft of the script. In May 2020, it was reported that the studio was looking for an actress, with Chloë Grace Moretz as the template for the kind of talent for whom they were looking.

In October 2021, Ana de Armas entered early negotiations to portray the eponymous character. By April 2022 at CinemaCon, Lionsgate announced that de Armas would star in the lead role, with principal photography to commence later that year. In July of the same year, de Armas was revealed to have personally selected Emerald Fennell to contribute to the script as one of its writers. In September 2022, principal photography was announced to have been delayed from its previous tentative start and would commence later that fall.

In November 2022, principal photography was scheduled to begin imminently. Reprising roles were announced for Ian McShane and Keanu Reeves as Winston Scott and John Wick, respectively, followed by Anjelica Huston as The Director and Lance Reddick as Charon. Filming began on November 7, 2022, in Prague, Czech Republic. The movie's official title was announced as From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, with the release of its trailer in September 2024. Ballerina was released in the United States on June 6, 2025. It was delayed from a June 7, 2024, release.

Did You Know?

• In May 2024, it was officially announced that a spin-off film centered around Caine was in development, with Donnie Yen reprising his role as the titular character.
• Principal photography for John Wick: Chapter 4 began on June 28, 2021, and wrapped in October 2021.