How Ana de Armas Got Keanu Reeves to Come Back for Ballerina

If the kinetic energy between Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas in the twisted thriller Knock Knock is any indication, the scenes between the two of them in the upcoming John Wick spin-off Ballerina should be exquisite. And yes, according to MovieWeb’s recent interviews with Basil Inawyk and Erica Lee of long-time John Wick production company Thunder Road, the two butt-kickers will act alongside each other. “They have scenes together, it’s really cool,” says Lee. Inawyk adds:

Inawyk laid out not only how de Armas got involved with Ballerina, but how Reeves did as well. “We reached out to her through her agents. She’s a huge fan of the franchise. At that point, frankly, we didn’t even know if Keanu would be in the movie,” explains Inawyk, adding:

“So we went to Ana and, and she loved Len [Wiseman’s] take, and she wanted to be an action star. And then when we talked about getting Keanu into the movie, she’d known Keanu for years and kind of helped to reach out and go, ‘Let’s do this, come on, it’s gonna be fun.’
And so she was definitely helpful in getting Keanu excited about the movie
. And Keanu’s a gigantic fan of Ana, so I think he got really excited about Ballerina once Ana came on board.”

Inawyk adds this about de Armas’ character, Eve Macarro: “One thing about the character that Ana plays — she’s no victim, no damsel in distress, and she kills almost as many people as John Wick did in the first movie. So you don’t really go like, ‘Oh my God, she’s a female, I hope she’s gonna be okay.’ No, not at all. I mean, she kills like 80 guys, so that goes out the window pretty quickly.”

How Will Ballerina Compare to John Wick?

Producer Erica Lee has often compared Ballerina to John Wick by saying that John was trying to “get out,” while Eve is trying to “get in.” She elaborates on this in our interview: “Ana plays a character that is trying to figure out what happened in her past, and is searching for answers, you know, which is slightly different than what John Wick is trying to do. So the way in is different, but I think it is also a revenge story to a degree. I think Ana is looking for closure as well and looking for answers from her past. So I think that’s certainly a part of it.” Lee continues:

“But yes, John Wick is sort of working towards, more, the future. There’s an inciting incident in Wick, and so he’s just propelled, and more and more obstacles sort of come his way, and there’s the High Table, and the worlds get bigger and the adversaries get larger. So to me, that is very sort of propulsive.
I think Ana’s character is trying to figure out what happened to her in the past, but then it thrusts her into this world
, and then she’s sort of moving towards the future.”

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The very fact that people will inevitably compare Ballerina to John Wick is tricky for any filmmakers; there are immediate presuppositions and expectations that franchise fans have. And also, how will the fans respond to a woman leading the charge? Basil Inawyk is keenly aware of these things, but knows that Ballerina, while capturing a more feminine gaze, shares a core tenet of John Wick. “One of the big challenges is, we are not underdogs anymore, right? So people go in with a high expectation of action and look and feel and vibe, which is terrifying,” admits Inawyk. He explains:

“In some ways, it is a lot more feminine, because our hero is a woman, obviously, but at the same time, the Wick movies have always, less so in the fourth movie, but in the first, second, and third movie, we reminded the audience many, many times that the reason why this whole franchise exists is just because of how much this guy loves his wife, and that his whole journey really is to get back to his wife. Her death gave him a pain that he’ll never get through. And I think that that’s very romantic, right? […] It really is the romance that the franchise is based on, and based on that relationship.”

“So I think for audiences that like John Wick — for whatever spin-off, or prequel, sequel, whatever it is, first and foremost, they’ve got to care, and they’ve got to care like they cared for him and were invested in his relationship,” adds Inawyk. “So that is something about Ballerina that’s extremely important.” It’s still seven months away, but we can’t wait to see how it all pans out. Ballerina hits theaters June 6, 2025, from Lionsgate. Meanwhile, the film that started it all, John Wick, returns to theaters for two nights only – November 3rd and 6th, 2024. Find theaters and tickets here.

Release Date

December 14, 2016

Director

Eric Summer

Cast

Elle Fanning , Dane DeHaan , Carly Rae Jepsen , Maddie Ziegler , Julie Khaner , Terrence Scammell , Joe Sheridan , Tamir Kapelian , Elana Dunkelman , Kate McKinnon , Mel Brooks , Shoshana Sperling , Jamie Watson , Bronwen Mantel

Writers

Carol Noble

Studio(s)

Summit Entertainment , Thunder Road Films , 87Eleven Productions

Distributor(s)

Lionsgate

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