Director Reveals If Keanu Reeves Will Be In ‘John Wick' Spinoff ‘Caine'

Forbes

09-06-2025

"From the World of John Wick: Ballerina" partial character poster featuring Keanu Reeves.
With Keanu Reeves appearance in the John Wick spinoff Ballerina, what are the chances of him turning up in the franchise spinoff Caine? The director of the franchise has an answer.
Reeves, of course, seemingly perished at the end of 2023's John Wick: Chapter 4, creating a creative dilemma for Stahelski when it came to the announcement at CinemaCon in April that the star would be reprising his role in John Wick 5.
In the interim, Reeves was brought back in a supporting capacity in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, starring Ana Armas as ballerina-turned-assassin Eve Maccaro, which opened in theaters over the weekend. Since the film is set during the events of 2019's John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum, it allowed Wick to return in a way that made sense to the narrative.
Produced by Stahelski and directed by Len Wiseman, Ballerina is the first of at least two more From the World of John Wick features in the works.
John Wick franchise studio Lionsgate announced at CinemaCon that in addition to John Wick 5, it is producing an animated John Wick prequel and the unofficially titled Caine, named after Donnie Yen's blind assassin character in John Wick: Chapter 4.
Unlike Ballerina, however, the upcoming Caine movie won't feature Reeves, Stahelski recently told The Hollywood Reporter.
'The [Donnie] Yen spinoff doesn't have the John Wick character,' Stahelski said. 'It's got [Donnie] Yen and it's an ode to kung fu movies. If John Wick 1 was about Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin, this is about Chow Yun-fat, John Woo and Wong Kar-wai. So, I think that one is a little easier to get it across to audiences because it's in a sub-genre of what we love.'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 03: (L-R) Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski attend the "John Wick" ... More 10th Anniversary Fathom Screening Q&A at AMC Century City 15 on November 03, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo byfor Lionsgate)
Now that Chad Stahelski is telling spinoff tales from the world of John Wick, The Hollywood Reporter asked the director-producer if he ever worried about John Wick movies working without the Wick character.
'Keanu and I actually just talked about this,' Stahelski told THR. 'Look, it's always tricky. I think the world can be supported as long as you don't go crazy and carpet bomb. What we're doing now are stories we really want to tell that feel organic. You've seen Alice in Wonderland. Now what about the Rabbit? What about the Cheshire Cat?
'Also, sometimes in your own franchise, you get so far up your own a-- with the mythology that by the 10th movie you don't know what's going on,' the filmmaker added. 'I don't ever want to get that way with Wick. I want each one to be able to stand alone.'
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina earned a projected $25 million from 3,409 North American theaters, finishing at No. 2 at the domestic box office behind Disney's live-action adaptation of Lilo & Stitch, which made an estimated $32.5 million from 4,185 venues.
Release dates are yet to be announced for Caine, the John Wick animated prequel and John Wick 5.