In just a few months, John Wick fans will be invited back to theaters to experience another neo-noir action thriller with From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. Only this time, we'll be witnessing Ana de Armas step into the role of a deadly assassin.
She'll have some mighty big shoes to fill, but it sounds like she's up for the challenge. Speaking to Collider, Ana de Armas, who stars in the lead role of Eve Macarro, compared her character to that of Reeves' John Wick. While both are skilled assassins, how they go about their business is very unique to their strengths.
"I think there are some trademarks in the style of the fights in John Wick, and things that he does that are very particular to him," Ada de Armas told Collider at CCXP in Brazil. "But because in this movie we’re seeing through Eve’s eyes the background of that training that John had, and how these assassins and ballerinas, how these people become these assassins, there are some little details that are the same, but Eve Macarro is Eve Macarro. She’s not John Wick."
Although the first trailer for Ballerina was filled with plenty of intense action and detailed choreography that the franchise is known for, a closer look at the combat teases how Eve Macarro's fighting style differs from that of John Wick. As de Armas explained, the creative team tailored Eve's style to align with the character's backstory as well as the actress's own strengths.
"Through the training process and rehearsals, we kind of built these fights and tailored them to the things that I would do best," explained de Armas. "I was really good at kicking, and also because I’m a 'ballerina,' I’m supposed to be good at kicking; I was really good at close fights, like with knives and things like that."
"Little by little, I was trying to get to know myself in this kind of world, and then the stunt team, the professionals, were seeing, also, the best things I could do," she added. "So, we found my own style along the way."
Set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum and Chapter 4, Ballerina follows de Armas's Eve Macarro, a highly skilled ballerina who is beginning her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma. Macarro sets out to exact revenge for her father's death.
Starring alongside Ana de Armas are Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Norman Reedus in supporting roles. They are joined by returning franchise stars Anjelica Huston, the late Lance Reddick (in his final screen appearance), Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves who will all reprise their roles from the previous movies.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is set to open in theaters on June 6, 2025.