Film news: Ana de Armas confronts Keanu Reeves’ John Wick in Ballerina trailer
Lionsgate has unveiled a rip-roaring new trailer for the Ana de Armas starring John Wick spin-off Ballerina.
Wednesday’s trailer provided new insight into the story and teased an exciting confrontation between de Armas’ character and Keanu Reeves’ Wick.
Film News Blitz’s Ellie Jackson breaks it all down.
What can we expect from Ballerina?
Ballerina is a new vengeful adventure full of action-packed fight scenes where we will see a new protagonist follow in John Wicks’ footsteps.
Audiences will see a different light in this criminal underworld through De Armas.
The film follows a young female assassin who seeks revenge against those who killed her family and the story unfolds between the events of John Wick Chapter 3 and Chapter 4.
In the new trailer, we see de Armas’ character interact further with Ian McShane’s Winston and his concierge sidekick Charon, played by the late great Lance Reddick, as well as Norman Reedus’ new character Pine.
Crucially, however, the trailer shows that de Armas has a target on her back, with none other than Baba Yaga, John Wick himself set to stamp her out.
De Armas relishing role alongside Keanu Reeves
“I have had the pleasure of working with Keanu three times already, and Ballerina was particularly special because it was me stepping into his world,” de Armas told IGN.
“The world of John Wick is loved by fans. I respect and appreciate Keanu as an artist, as a person and as a friend, he's a leader and force on set, and always a gentleman”
De Armas added that working with Reeves within the world of Wick was a “surreal” experience.
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“His creativity and input during the rehearsal is always so inspiring, he knows these films better than anyone and I loved having him by my side,” she said.
“When I saw him walking on set dressed as John, it was pretty surreal. I'll never forget that day.
“Keanu has been a huge influence on me since the day we met. I never imagined I was going to work with him again; and here we are, living a really cool full circle moment”
Who is de Armas’ character?
“Eve Macarro was recruited and trained by the Ruska Roma to be a ballerina and assassin,” de Armas said of her leading lady.
“Eve has been trained to be the best among the best, by the same people that trained John Wick, but she's a woman, smaller than most men in the film, so I wanted to find a way of building the fights embracing that quality, using it to my advantage.
“I wanted to be realistic with the efforts she makes to stay alive and the pain she's feeling every step of the way.
“Because she's a ballerina, she's very good with close combat fights, she's fast and always three steps ahead, using real-life objects as weapons, turning simple things into something deadly, which is a quality that I love.”
New and old coming to the world of John Wick
A consistent presence in the John Wick franchise has been Director Chad Stahelski, who serves as a producer on this project.
However, after helming all four John Wick films, Stahelski has handed over the reigns to Director Len Wiseman for Ballerina.
Wiseman, known for his films Underworld and Live Free or Die Hard said “The tone and aesthetic of John Wick is largely what I love and respect about the franchise.”
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He added that he wanted to pay respect to what had gone before but with a new twist.
“My approach with Ballerina was multilayered; I wanted it to feel familiar and connected in ways that fans like myself would hope it to be while bringing in many new and creative layers of my own as a filmmaker,” Wiseman explained.
“It was a challenging balance, but one I was excited to tackle. I had fun with it”
One thing that strongly connects this film to its predecessors is the presence of Wick himself and franchise star Reeves commented “It was so great to have the chance to play John Wick again and discover more of the John Wick world.”.
Wiseman directs Ballerina from a screenplay penned by Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 4, Day Shift) and is set to release in theatres on June 6.
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