Ballerina‘s delay takes away one of 2024’s most highly anticipated action movies, but there are already two perfect replacements for the John Wick spinoff coming. After watching Keanu Reeves headline the franchise for four installments, John Wick was set to expand this year with a female-led spinoff starring Ana de Armas. The movie includes several returning characters, including John Wick, and had high expectations to meet after John Wick: Chapter 4. Instead of closely following the previous installment, it has been confirmed that Ballerina was delayed to 2025 and will come out a full year later than expected.
Even though footage from Ballerina had yet to be released, the chance to see Ana de Armas headline a John Wick spinoff was enough to create excitement. Lionsgate’s decision to delay the movie now leaves the 2024 movie slate without a major piece of IP and what could have been one of the better action movies of the year. Replacing a franchise as popular as the John Wick movies is not easy, but the franchise’s impact on the genre is undeniable. Hollywood’s attempts to replicate the original’s success luckily means 2024 has two perfect Ballerina replacements lined up.
Ballerina: Cast, Release Date & Everything We Know About The John Wick Spinoff
Following the outstanding success of the first four John Wick films, the ever-popular action franchise is getting a spinoff in the form of Ballerina.
Monkey Man & Boy Kills World Can Replace Ballerina As 2024’s John Wick Action Movie
With Ballerina out of the picture, 2024 action movies Monkey Man and Boy Kills World are now positioned to replace the craving audiences had for a John Wick-style film. Neither film benefits from being directly connected to John Wick like Ballerina is, but the copycat nature of both is quite obvious. Monkey Man stars Dev Patel as a man seeking revenge on the people responsible for his mother’s death. Boy Kills World follows Bill Skarsgård’s deaf and mute assassin as he goes on a quest to kill those who previously murdered his family.
Revenge-driven action movies are not something that John Wick invented, but the simple story was utilized to make the action shine in the original 2014 movie. Ballerina has a similar setup, with Ana de Armas’ character seeking revenge after her family is killed. The Monkey Man trailer makes the movie look like it could exist in the John Wick universe and expand the franchise to India. Boy Kills World looks a bit more ridiculous with some of its elements, but both movies have action sequences seemingly on par with John Wick and what Ballerina could have featured.
Dev Patel’s New 2024 Action Movie Looks Like The Perfect John Wick Replacement
First-time director Dev Patel will star in an exciting new action thriller that has the potential to spark a franchise that could replace John Wick.
Ballerina’s Delay Reasoning Is Even Stronger After Monkey Man & Boy Kills World Trailers
The reason that Ballerina is not coming out in 2024 is reportedly due to the movie undergoing some additional photography with John Wick‘s Chad Stahelski being brought aboard to make the action better. This decision is understandable based on the high bar that Stahelski and Reeves have set for the universe. Ballerina‘s action scenes disappointing risk audiences not being as pleased with the spinoff as they have been with the main installments. Maintaining the franchise’s standards becomes even more important based on what Monkey Man and Boy Kills World have shown.
Both of the John Wick copycats have used their trailers to highlight that each could be up to par with their action sequences. Monkey Man repeatedly shows off Dev Patel’s fight scenes, and Boy Kills World‘s trailer does the same for Bill Skarsgård. These two movies appear to have action scenes as well choreographed and violent as some of the best John Wick fights. That means there was a chance Ballerina would be outclassed by Monkey Man and Boy Kills World, making the decision to delay the spinoff and add in more fights a smart move.
Ballerina
- Director
- Len Wiseman
- Release Date
- June 7, 2024
- Cast
- Ana De Armas , Anjelica Huston , Gabriel Byrne , Lance Reddick , Catalina Sandino Moreno , Norman Reedus , Ian McShane , Keanu Reeves
- Writers
- Shay Hatten , Emerald Fennell
