The John Wick franchise has grown past the point of solely following Keanu Reeves’ title character. Along with The Continental prequel series that will now stream on Peacock, there’s also the Ana de Armas-led spinoff movie coming called Ballerina. And John Wick fans are in luck, because there will be some familiar faces from the main film series taking part in the spinoff, including Anjelica Huston now joining the proceedings.
Following her debut as The Director in 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, THR has revealed that Anjelica Huston will reprise the character in Ballerina, which is currently filming. Huston is the second John Wick actor to be officially announced for Ballerina, as Ian McShane is also on board to reprise Winston, the manager of The Continental’s New York branch. It’s also been reported that Keanu Reeves’s John Wick will appear in the spinoff, but Lionsgate hasn’t confirmed if that is indeed the case. Here’s what producer Erica Lee said about Huston coming aboard:
The idea of Ballerina was formed around the scenes with Anjelica in John Wick 3. Anjelica Huston is an icon and is nothing less than Hollywood royalty. The world of Wick is always made richer by her commanding screen presence.
The Director was introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3 as the head of the Ruska Roma crime syndicate who raised Keanu Reeves’ character when he was an adolescent. With the events of John Wick: Chapter 2 seeing John being declared excommunicado and having an open bounty put on his head, he requested The Director give him safe passage out of the country, and she begrudgingly agreed to help her former ward provided that this meant this their personal ties were cut from this point forward. Unfortunately for her, because she assisted John, The Director was later punished by The Adjudicator and assassin Zero by being stabbed through both of her hands.
The Director’s presence in John Wick: Chapter 3 also indirectly set up Ballerina, as moviegoers learned that Anjelica Huston’s character brutally trained young dancers in ballet to teach them that art is pain. While we don’t officially know yet how The Director will fit into Ballerina, it’s probably a safe bet that she also raised Ana de Armas’ character following the murder of her family. The spinoff will follow the title protagonist exacting revenge on those responsible for these deaths.
Ballerina is directed by Len Wiseman and written by Shay Hatten, the latter of whom previously worked on John Wick: Chapter 3 and the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4, which is slated for March 24 among the 2023 movie releases. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on Ballerina’s progress and what else the John Wick franchise has coming down the creative pipeline.