The Ballerina Trailer Thrusts Ana De Armas Into The Violent World Of John Wick

Trailers

The trailer for the long-awaited "John Wick" spin-off film "Ballerina" is finally here. Following a teaser clip that used a music box version of Beethoven's "Für Elise," the full trailer has provided a glimpse at what looks like a promising return to the Wick-verse.

"Live Free or Die Hard" director Len Wiseman is helming this latest off-shoot, which, frankly, has a lot riding on its shoulders. For a time, it seemed as though Hollywood could learn a few lessons about how to build a cinematic universe from the "John Wick" saga. But after the lifeless, pointless spin-off seres "The Continental," it started to look as though the impressive world-building of the movies could only really work in service of Keanu Reeves' relentless hit-man. What's more, the studio behind the films, Lionsgate, is coming off a string of box office duds that have put the company in serious jeopardy.

Now, "Ballerina" not only hopes to prove that a "John Wick" shared universe can work without the titular assassin to carry it, but also that Lionsgate can produce a box office hit. This time, Ana de Armas will be handing out the ass-kickery as the eponymous dancer who sets out on a mission for revenge after hitmen kill her family. The film takes place between 2019's "John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum" and 2023's "John Wick: Chapter 4," and features franchise mainstays Ian McShane, the late Lance Reddick, and Reeves himself, who cameos in the movie. Will this be the hit "John Wick" fans and Lionsgate are hoping for? Check out the trailer and decide for yourself.

Ana de Armas is a certified badass in the Ballerina trailer

In the new trailer, Ian McShane's Winston Scott approaches Ana de Armas' Eve Macarro following the murder of her family, promising to take her to a "school where they teach dances." Of course, this ain't no regular dance school, as the following shots confirm. A montage shows Eve being trained in the deadly art of badassery, as her trainer tells the group of women in attendance, "You will always be weaker, you will always be smaller," before encouraging her trainees to "cheat" in order to win. We're then treated to some shots that are undeniably cool, with Eve taking out hordes of enemies à la Baba Yaga himself, including one instance where she traps a dude holding a grenade behind a door, then uses the door as a shield from the blast.

It all looks just as impressively choreographed as any "John Wick" movie, with de Armas clearly having done the work to portray this skilled assassin as believably as possible. But you do get the sense that all the best parts of the action are here in the trailer. Speaking of which, the trailer ends with a tease of Keanu Reeves' cameo, with John Wick arriving to greet Eve who asks him, "How do I start doing what you do?" to which Reeves responds in his characteristically stilted way, "Looks like you already have." It's the same moment we heard about from the "Ballerina" footage shown off at this year's CinemaCon, and while it's undoubtedly cool to see that this particular movie will benefit from Reeves' presence, it also serves as a reminder that Wick really is the center of this cinematic universe, making you wonder what it will take for a "John Wick" spinoff to work without the main man himself.

Still, there's no faulting the action in this trailer, which really does seem to be every bit as outrageously creative as the fine work carried out by franchise co-directors and fight coordinator extraordinaires Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. Aside from the fact the "Ballerina" trailer commits the sin of slowing down a popular song in an attempt to create a haunting version of, in this case, "Tiny Dancer," the actual content of the movie actually looks pretty solid. We'll have to wait and see if that translates to box office success or not, but it's about as good as we could have hoped for at this stage.

"From the World of John Wick: Ballerina" is slated to open in theaters on June 6, 2025.