Lionsgate is sharing a new look at Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro in Ballerina, releasing in June of 2025. The poster was shared during CCXP, a yearly convention in São Paulo, Brazil that focuses on pop culture, movies, film, anime, and more. There are several huge panels throughout the weekend like for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and that’s not the only upcoming project getting some love.
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Several Ballerina cast members were in attendance, including de Armas and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead). From director Derek Kolstad, Ballerina is a John Wick spinoff film that follows Eve, an assassin ballerina trained in the traditions of the Ruska Roma and is determined to seek revenge for her slain family.
The character was originally revealed in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum where The Ballerina is played by New York Ballet’s principal dancer Unity Phelan. As she’s not an actress who can carry the weight of a multi-million dollar franchise, the role was recast and that’s when de Armas emerged as a frontrunner.
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It was confirmed via the first trailer that Ballerina takes place during the events of John Wick 3 which would set the timeline in 2014. However, it also explores a new piece of the puzzle that predates John Wick: Eve and Winston’s first meeting.
Anjelica Huston, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Gabriel Byrne, and the late Lance Reddick also star with Ian McShane and Keanu Reeves making an appearance as well. Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, and Chad Stahelski are producing the film from Thunder Road Films / 87Eleven Entertainment.
How Ana de Armas Convinced Keanu Reeves to Join Ballerina
It was de Armas that convinced Reeves to sign on to the project as the two previously starred in 2015’s Knock Knock. He has played the titular assassin since 2014 and produced several box office hits, including 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4. “She’s a huge fan of the franchise,” Iwanyk, one of the John Wick producers, explained to MovieWeb. “At that point, frankly, we didn’t even know if Keanu would be in the movie.
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.”
