Saltburn’s Success Is Great News For This Year’s Spinoff To $1 Billion Keanu Reeves Action Franchise

Although it got off to an uneven start, writer/director Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn has become a huge hit with audiences, especially in the wake of its Amazon Prime Video release. The black comedy-meets-psychological-thriller stars Oscar-nominated actor Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, an Oxford student who becomes fixated on his popular, wealthy classmate, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). After the two become fast friends, Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer holidays at his family’s titular estate. As his obsession with Felix grows, Oliver gradually seduces the rest of the Catton clan (except for Felix’s cousin, Farleigh).

Saltburn, which was filmed on location at an opulent estate, didn’t necessarily dazzle critics. Unlike Fennell’s debut feature, Promising Young Woman, Saltburn was met with mixed reviews. The film’s streaming debut, paired with some of its more over-the-top sequences going viral, has led Saltburn to become an internet sensation. Primed to be a contemporary cult classic movie, the ostentatious and incisive Saltburn cements Emerald Fennell as a singular filmmaker. Thanks to her unique touch, fans of the writer-director will find a lot to love about her future projects, including an upcoming 2024 action franchise spinoff.

Saltburn’s Emerald Fennell Co-Wrote The Screenplay For John Wick’s 2024 Spinoff Ballerina

Set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4, Ballerina is a spinoff of Keanu Reeves’ incredibly popular action-movie franchise. In total, the four existing John Wick films have grossed $1.011 billion at the worldwide box office — a feat made possible by the series’ unique world-building and compelling action set-pieces. John Wick‘s criminal underworld has its own set of rules and mythology; unlike other contemporary action flicks, John Wick prizes well-choreographed, detailed fight scenes. Needless to say, the John Wick movies have a distinct style.

While Ballerina is tasked with fitting into the larger John Wick timeline and universe, the action-thriller spinoff also needs to stand on its own. Shay Hatten, who worked on the third and fourth films, co-wrote Ballerina alongside Michael Finch (John Wick 4) and, surprisingly, Saltburn‘s Emerald Fennell. Starring Ana de Armas, the film centers on ballerina-assassin Rooney, who teams up with franchise vets Winston (Ian McShane) and Charon (Lance Reddick) to hunt down those responsible for murdering her family. With Anjelica Huston and Reeves also reprising their John Wick roles, Ballerina is poised to be a hit.

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What Emerald Fennell’s Past Movie Screenplays May Reveal About Ballerina

There’s no denying that John Wick‘s Ballerina spinoff has challenges ahead of it, but the addition of Emerald Fennell to the film’s writing team is a huge boon. The Oscar-winning writer has two stylish thrillers under her belt: Saltburn and Promising Young Woman. Given that those projects were also her first and second feature films, it’s clear that Fennell has a singular talent for delivering stylish thrills and healthy doses of black comedy. In particular, Promising Young Woman, which is a woman-centered, revenge-fueled vigilante thriller, shares several key threads with John Wick‘s Ballerina spinoff.