Ana de Armas in Talks to Play an Assassin in John Wick Spinoff'' Ballerina (Reports)

Ballerina follows a young dancer who trains to be an assassin after her family is murdered

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Published on October 29, 2021 11:37 AM

Ana de Armas could be twirling her way into the John Wick franchise.

The Knives Out star, 33, is in talks to star as the lead in the upcoming John Wick spinoff Ballerina, Deadline reports. The film, which was first reported to be in the works in October 2019, follows "a young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family," per Deadline.

The female assassin at the center of Ballerina will be based on a character who was briefly featured in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum as a young dancer who is also training to be an assassin.

Ballerina comes from director Len Wiseman (Underworld) and is written by Shay Hatten, who previously wrote the screenplay for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Chapter 4, and is slated to write the franchise's Chapter 5.

John Wick 3: Parabellum Keanu Reeves — Niko Tavernise/Lionsgate

De Armas most recently starred as Cuban intelligence operative Paloma in the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die. Her upcoming projects include Deep Water, a thriller she stars in alongside her ex-boyfriend Ben Affleck, plus Netflix's action film The Gray Man and the Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde.

While she's got plenty of exciting projects in the works, de Armas has already made a name for herself in Hollywood with roles in the hit 2019 murder mystery Knives Out, as well as Blade Runner 2049.

The John Wick franchise began in 2014 with the release of the first film starring Keanu Reeves. Since then, John Wick: Chapter 2 debuted in 2017, and a third film, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was released in 2019. Reeves, 57, is set to star in the fourth John Wick film, which is set for a 2022 release. A fifth film is also in the works.

Along with the planned Ballerina film, Lionsgate also has a John Wick spinoff series in the works starring Mel Gibson. The Braveheart actor, 65, will star in The Continental, a Starz miniseries set in 1975, before the events of the first John Wick film.