Pirouette into Peril: Ana de Armas Dances with Death in ‘Ballerina’ (2025)

Los Angeles, Oct. 8, 2025 – In the blood-soaked ballet of the John Wick universe, grace isn’t just an art form – it’s a weapon. Lionsgate’s Ballerina: A John Wick Story (or simply From the World of John Wick: Ballerina) unleashes its lethal arabesque on June 6, 2025, thrusting audiences back into the Continental’s marble-floored mayhem with Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, a Ruska Roma-trained assassin whose vengeance pirouettes through the shadows of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

Directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld) with franchise architect Chad Stahelski producing and overseeing the gun-fu choreography, this spin-off – born from Shay Hatten’s 2017 Black List script – weaves Eve’s origin into the Wick timeline. Orphaned by a hit that torches her family, young Eve is plucked from the flames by Winston Scott (Ian McShane) and forged in the fires of the Ruska Roma ballet-assassin academy, led by the iron-fisted Director (Anjelica Huston). Over 12 grueling years, she masters the deadly duet of tutus and takedowns, emerging to hunt the cultish cabal – helmed by Gabriel Byrne’s enigmatic Chancellor – that stole her father. “It’s not just revenge; it’s reclaiming the rhythm of your own survival,” de Armas teased at CinemaCon, her electric poise channeling the raw fury that made No Time to Die a standout.

The ensemble is a Wick reunion fever dream: Keanu Reeves slips back into John Wick’s tailored vengeance for pivotal scenes, clashing blades (and bullets) with Eve in a mentor-rival tango that honors his “suicide mission” exile; Lance Reddick’s Charon (in one of his final roles) mans the Continental desk with wry wisdom; and Norman Reedus slithers in as a rogue operative with sequel-baiting secrets. New blood like Catalina Sandino Moreno adds layers of intrigue to the High Table’s fracturing web, while flamethrower-fueled nightclub infernos and one-take hallway massacres – shot with practical sets and IMAX flair – promise to eclipse Chapter 3‘s ballerina cameo that sparked it all.

Fresh off reshoots that amplified the aerial kills and emotional gut-punches, early screenings hail it as “Wick’s wicked stepsister: stylish, savage, and unapologetically balletic.” With a sequel already in Wiseman’s sights and the Wickverse buzzing toward Caine and Chapter 5, Ballerina isn’t a sidestep – it’s the grand jeté that elevates the saga. When the curtain rises, the dance floor runs red. En pointe, assassins – the show’s just beginning.