Lionsgate Drops Last Look at Ballerina Ahead of June Release

In just three weeks, the John Wick franchise will expand once more with From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. Ana de Armas will step into the lead role in the film, bringing her own flavor of action to the series that has found a recipe for success in stylish, balletic violence.

On June 6, 2025, Ballerina will hit theaters, but before then, Lionsgate has one more treat in store for fans. The company has released the final trailer for the film, and it is a dizzying display of gunplay, swordplay, and sure-footed precision. In it, we see Ana de Armas as Eve, a ballerina assassin who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.

The John Wick: Ballerina plot will be set during John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Parabellum, released in 2019, followed Keanu Reeves’ eponymous antihero as he was declared “excommunicado” by the High Table after murdering Santino D’Antonio on the grounds of the Continental Hotel. In the aftermath of the crime, a multi-million-dollar bounty was placed on Wick’s head, and he fled across New York City, searching for allies. His journey led him to the Ruska Roma, a criminal syndicate.

The Ruska Roma, headed by the matriarchal Director (played by Anjelica Huston), would become Wick’s refuge from the High Table — and a place for him and the Director’s proteges to train. Under the Director, her wards weren’t just ballerinas — they were ballerina-assassins. The brief scene in Parabellum, which saw a young ballerina, played by Unity Phelan, rehearsing on a stage, was just a taste of what was to come. Now, that character is the focus of Ballerina, and Ana de Armas is the actress at the helm.

It is also a reunion for a number of other John Wick actors, as many of the supporting cast from previous installments have been attached to the film. The returnees include Huston as the Director, Ian McShane as Winston, and the late Lance Reddick in the role of Charon. The inclusion of Reddick will be a highlight of the film for many fans of the series, as his passing in March 2023 means this will be his final performance in the role. Longtime viewers of the franchise may even be able to catch a quick glimpse of Keanu Reeves as John Wick, too.

The supporting cast also includes a number of new facesino the John Wick universe. Gabriel Byrne, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Norman Reedus, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and David Castañeda have all been added to the cast, although their exact roles in the film have not been revealed.

The trailer focuses, as the previous ones have, on the backstory of the film’s new heroine. Eve Macarro, having been orphaned at a young age, was recruited into the ranks of the Ruska Roma. And as a girl, it was her goal to avenge her father’s murder, training to do so as a lethal ballerina. It is a personal quest, one that will be emotionally driven — and as such, so far, John Wick has barely had any screen time at all in trailers.

The second trailer, however, did give fans a bit more of what they were craving — a meeting between tohn Wick and his new ballerina colleague in the back of a car in the middle of a snowy field. It was brief and cloaked in atmosphere and fog, but the two characters interacted more than in the first. Not too much more has been given away, but there are enough hints to tease what may be a significant chunk of the film’s runtime for a meeting of the minds.

The new, final trailer, however, moves away from subtlety and introduces viewers to Eve Macarro. We first see her in the crosshairs of John Wick’s gun as she stares upwards, tension personified. She then continues on a dizzying rampage of balletic violence as new shots are interspersed with those previously seen in the second trailer. The result is a fast-paced and extremely brutal array of choreographed close-combat, shooting, and swordplay as Eve takes on wave after wave of assassins.

Ana de Armas shows off her athleticism and commitment to the action as the film’s heroine, as she leaps, kicks, shoots, and slashes her way to what will hopefully be a bloody and cathartic climax. At one point, de Armas’ Eve says the line, “This isn’t done until they’re dead” — something that feels more than fitting for the action of the scene, the film, and the entire series.

As with the previous two John Wick films, Ballerina will retain the tone set by the previous installments of the franchise. This new film will have tightly choreographed, almost over-the-top combat, cutting-edge production design, and a rich sense of world-building. The one difference between Ballerina and the previous films is that, this time, a woman is at the center of its narrative.

The John Wick universe remains, for better or for worse, its own thing, mixing bits of “cool” with a lot of brutal violence. It also doesn’t shy away from building its lore. Both of these things are present in Ballerina, this time with the addition of Ana de Armas and her character’s personal story set against the backdrop of the John Wick universe. It’s not an aspect wthatJohn Wick: Chapter 4 – Greased could offer, as its entire focus was on Keanu Reeves.

For the most part, the previous trailers have done a wonderful job of displaying what fans can look forward to when Ballerina hits theaters. TSome moments focuson Ana de Armas’ character and her more personal moments. There is also large-scale violence which feels more akin to a Keanu Reeves John Wick film, but the action and sequences have been ramped up in intensity — it’s bigger than ever.