Lionsgate first announced the John Wick spinoff Ballerina in 2017 and put it on the fast track to production in 2019. That track turned out to be very bumpy. The film was initially scheduled for release in June 2024 but got pushed back to this year. In the interim, John Wick co-director Chad Stahelski assumed control of the overall franchise and spent two weeks doing additional photography to enhance director Len Wiseman’s (Live Free or Die Hard) action sequences.
The final trailer for the film, which hits theaters on June 6, shows off a bit of that spectacle. It emphasizes the assassin vs. assassin conflict between Eve (Ana de Armas) and John Wick (Keanu Reeves) set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4. The battles include Eve — who is trained at the Ruska Roma ballet school Wick visits in Parabellum — staving off a cleaver attack, wielding a flamethrower and an ice pick, and running a guy through with a katana.
There are cameos from Norman Reedus warning Eve that the Continental Hotel is being surrounded as well as the building’s owner Winston Scott (Ian McShane). In another sign of just how long this film has been in the works, the trailer also features an appearance by the Continental’s concierge Charon, played by Lance Reddick, who died in 2023.
Hopefully the road to the recently announced John Wick 5 will be a bit smoother and faster with Stahelski at the helm the entire time.
