The John Wick spinoff Ballerina has secured its screenwriter. In development at Lionsgate, Ballerina will star Ana de Armas in the lead, reuniting the actress with Knock Knock co-star Keanu Reeves.
The project has been slow to develop, but in a new interview with Elle, de Armas has revealed that the movie has officially found its screenwriter in Emerald Fennell. As de Armas explains, the hiring came after a push to hire a female writer for the film.
“It was really important for me to hire a female writer, because to that point when I got involved in the project, it was only the director, Len Wiseman, and another guy. And I was like, ‘That’s not going to work.’ So I interviewed, like, five or six female writers.
We hired Emerald Fennell, which I was so proud of. I grew up in the most macho-man culture, and at the same time, Cuba is just so free in so many other ways that sometimes I’m shocked with the things that I hear that are still conversations in this country. I’m like, ‘We’re still here?’”
Fennell made a splash with her feature film directorial debut in 2020 with the release of the acclaimed movie Promising Young Woman. As the writer of the film, Fennell won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and received additional nominations for Best Director and Best Picture. She also served as showrunner on the BBC series Killing Eve, which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Fennell is also writing a Zatanna movie for DC Films and Bad Robot Productions.
RELATED: Ed Boon Wanted Keanu Reeves’ John Wick for ‘Mortal Kombat 1’
After getting her start in Cuba, de Armas has appeared in movies like Knock Knock, War Dogs, and Blade Runner 2049. She had a memorable role as part of the ensemble cast in Rian Johnson’s murder mystery Knives Out, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination.
More recently, she appeared as a Bond girl in No Time to Die and co-starred with Ben Affleck in the erotic thriller Deep Water. She will next be seen in The Gray Man, which hits Netflix on July 22, and also stars in the upcoming Marilyn Monroe biopic Blondie.
