'John Wick: Chapter 4' producer Erica Lee teases possible cameos in upcoming spin-off 'Ballerina'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'John Wick' has experienced tremendous success through the many spin-offs created for the franchise. Recently, 'John Wick: Chapter 4' hit theaters and reached the highest of all highs at the box office. While we do not know if there will be any more sequels, the franchise is certainly outgrowing its branches away from John Wick (Keanu Reeves) with the many spinoff films. The film scheduled to hit theaters next year is 'Ballerina.'
Ana de Armas will take on the role of 'Rooney,' a ballerina assassin at the Ruska Roma School who is out for revenge and kills people who murdered her family. The film will feature cameo appearances from several characters in the franchise, including Keanu Reeves as John himself. Recently, producer Erica Lee spoke about the spin-off film and gave insight into how the cameos will work within the franchise, in which Keanu Reeves will return to play John Wick with a meaty role in the film.
READ MORE:
‘Ballerina’: ICONIC Anjelica Huston reprises her role as The Director in ‘John Wick’ spin-off
Keanu Reeves RETURNS as John Wick in 'Ballerina' spin-off starring Ana De Armas
'It makes sense chronologically'
Following the success of 'John Wick: Chapter 4,' Erica Lee spoke about the film and revealed details about 'Ballerina' and possible cameos that will appear in the spin-off film, she said, "Ian has a little bit more to do, and John Wick is an extended cameo. He shot for about a week. Lance shot for a day. Those were last minute adds in a way, too. How do we merge the worlds a bit more, so there's a bit of more of brand continuity? Because obviously, she's a ballerina in the Ruska Roma School, so that was having Anjelica [Huston] as The Director was always an organic way in, and she always did check into a Continental. But then it was fun to have Ian and Lance come. I didn't know if Keanu was going to do the movie. I think we had always hoped he would. Then the timeline thing became a thing because we were still in post on ‘John Wick 4,’ and it was like, is he dead? Is he not? Is he dead? Yeah, let's do this, so it makes sense chronologically and gives us a minute to figure it all out," according to Collider.
What would John Wick cameos bring to 'Ballerina'?
Reeves' return to the franchise spinoff would be emotional due to the character's death at the end of 'John Wick: Chapter 4.' There will be many deep-rooted stories that will appear in this spinoff. John has a past with the Ruska Roma school and trained with them when he was young. John Wick's cameo appearance would certainly shed light on his past and show how his past with the school played out. Not only that, but the general idea of John's childhood would help connect to the life of Rooney (Ana de Armas), her upbringing, her mission, and the storyline that reveals her solo journey of revenge.