Following a heated bidding war, Lionsgate has landed the action spec script BALLERINA, with plans to use the project as a platform for a potential John Wick spin-off, the Tracking Board has confirmed.
The script was penned by Shay Hatten, a 23-year-old writer’s assistant at Team Downey who previously wrote the Stephen King script Maximum King!, which was featured on this year’s Black List.
Ballerina follows a young woman who was raised as an assassin and uses her deadly set of skills to hunt down the other assassins who murdered her family. The project is described as being in the vein of the seminal action movie La Femme Nikita.
Basil Iwanyk, who produced the John Wick films under his Thunder Road banner, is set to produce. His next film, The Current War, stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon, and will screen at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.
Hatten is represented by CAA and Lee Stobby Entertainment. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news.
Emily J | Managing Editor