Ballerina

Story:

Len Wiseman and Shay Hatten are the directors and writers of the 2025 American action thriller Ballerina (marketed as From the World of John Wick: Ballerina). Set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and Chapter 4 (2023), it is a spin-off episode in the John Wick franchise. Ana de Armas plays dancer and assassin Eevee Macarro, who fights an army of murderers to exact revenge for her father’s death. Anjelica Huston, Ian McShane, Norman Reedus, Keanu Reeves, Lance Reddick (in his last film appearance), and Gabriel Byrne are among the supporting cast members.

After Hatten, who previously worked on the third and fourth John Wick movies, developed a spec treatment for a spin-off, work on a fifth movie started in 2017. The franchise’s regular director, Chad Stahelski, returned as a producer after Wiseman was named director in October 2019. Ballerina’s casting started in April 2022 and was completed by December of the same year, with Huston, Reddick, McShane, and Reeves returning and de Armas, Byrne, and Reedus completing the cast. Ballerina was also scored by composer and John Wick regular Tyler Bates. Principal photography began in November 2022 and lasted until January 2023, mainly in Prague and Budapest. Then came reshoots in February 2024.

On June 6, 2025, a year after its initial release date, Lionsgate released Ballerina in theatres across the United States. On a $90 million production budget, the movie made $137 million worldwide and garnered mostly favourable reviews from reviewers.

The assassins Javier of the Ruska Roma crime gang and his cultist wife are the parents of Eve Macarro. Eve’s mother died as a result of Javier removing her from the Cult when she was a youngster. The Cult and its Chancellor raid their house to get Eve; Javier is killed when he assists Eve in getting away. Eve is brought to the Ruska Roma, an assassins society disguised as performance dancers, by New York Continental manager Winston Scott. There, she meets their Director and consents to join.

Eve trains as a bodyguard, assassin, and ballerina throughout the course of the following twelve years. During his appointment with the Director, she has a brief encounter with John Wick, who suggests a way out of the loop. But Eve becomes “Kikimora” after killing a former Ruska Roma member to finish her training. Eve successfully defends her first ward on her first assignment.

Two months later, Eve is ambushed and killed by a Cultist while on an assignment. She questions the Director about the Cult in an attempt to exact revenge, but she is prohibited from doing so because of a long-standing peace between the Cult and the Ruska Roma.

Eve goes to the New York Continental to meet Winston, defying the Director. Winston discloses that Daniel Pine, a Cultist, is staying at the Prague Continental and that there is a sizable price on his head. Eve finds out that Pine is keeping his daughter Ella hidden from the Cult when she sneaks into his chamber. A number of assassins storm Pine’s hotel room when cult member Lena raises the bounty on Pine. Pine gives Eve Ella with the promise that she will eventually provide her with knowledge on the Cult. Cultist Dex shoots Pine as they leave the motel, and Lena kidnaps Ella and renders Eve incapable of moving. After concluding that Eve did not violate any Continental regulations, the Continental staff spares her but executes two arrested assassins for their attack.

The Cult attacks Frank’s store when Eve tries to buy firearms from him. Eve kills the attackers, and Frank assists her in locating the Cult’s base in Hallstatt, Austria. The town’s residents, who are all Cultists, immediately attack Eve as she approaches. After some time, Eve is apprehended and taken to the Chancellor. Pine is his son, and Ella is his granddaughter, he explains, and the Cult is a haven for ex-assassins. Eve escapes before Lena, who identifies herself as her older sister, corners her. Javier left her after his escape because he thought the Cult had already brainwashed her, according to Lena. The Chancellor then gives the order to kill them; Eve escapes, but Lena is killed.

To declare war on the Ruska Roma, the Chancellor summons the Director. The Director says that Eve went rogue and hires John Wick to kill her in order to please the Chancellor. When John reaches Hallstatt, he locates Eve and swiftly vanquishes her, but begs her to stop pursuing him. When Eve begs for her retribution, John, who is sympathetic, gives her till midnight to murder the Chancellor. While John helps Eve from a distance, killing Dex and a number of other Cultists, Eve continues to fight the Cult. Eve traps the Chancellor and Ella as they try to escape. Eve puts the Chancellor to death and saves Ella despite his attempts to reason with her. The Director accepts John’s notification of the Chancellor’s passing.

At the Prague Continental, Ella and a recuperating Pine are reunited. After fleeing the Ruska Roma, Eve takes sanctuary at the New York Continental, where Winston warns her that the other Cult members will exact revenge on her. Eve finds out that her friend Tatiana has a $5 million reward on her head when she is at a ballet performance, so she quits the theatre.