Latest news with #DonnieYen
Forbes
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Director Reveals If Keanu Reeves Will Be In ‘John Wick' Spinoff ‘Caine'
"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.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Prosecutor review – Donnie Yen leads mashup of legal drama and action flick
Developed by China's Supreme People's Procuratorate and directed by butt-kicking luminary Donnie Yen, The Prosecutor is a bizarre mashup of courtroom procedural and action flick; it is just as keen on lionising due process and the 'shining light' of Chinese justice as it is on reducing civic infrastructure to smithereens in several standout bouts. But Yen, who looks undeniably good in a suit, is more convincing on his habitual fisticuff grounds than the jurisprudential ones. Yen plays Fok, a one-time hotshot cop who – leaving the force after some over-zealous policing – decides to man the 'final gate' of justice and become a public prosecutor. Like a low-carb Perry Mason with years of Brazilian jiu-jitsu behind him, trouble keeps knocking on his door. Suspecting that a young drug smuggler (Mason Yung) whose case he is assigned has pled guilty to get his higher-ups off the hook, Fok starts looking into his slippery lawyer, Au Pak Man (Julian Cheung). Insisting his character's knees are shot and he can't do this for ever, The Prosecutor lays the ground for a post-martial arts career for Yen. Not that you'd know it from undimmed reserves of inventiveness here: a hyper-dynamic initial police raid, with Yen toting a submachine gun and riot shield, flits between drone-borne third-person and first-person cop's eye mayhem. But this brio is dragged down by the convoluted and muddily dramatised legal sequences. Trying to establish Fok's counter-intuitive prosecuting style, it is confusing in the detail and manipulative in the summary arguments there to set up Au's cartoon villainy. Maybe a more grounded director, such as Johnnie To, could have made an eyebrow-raising conceit like a vigilante prosecutor work. Though Yen raises fleetingly interesting points about the pliability of the justice system, he can't bend enough to reconcile the film's legal and brawling sides in a way that avoids glaring irregularities; surely, for example, Fok's extracurricular tangling with the drug gang would have seen him immediately struck off? Yen's self-confidence as a performer may make the courtroom grandstanding appear self-righteous, but that is no bad quality out on the warpath. He even sells saying 'I object!' mid-melee in the finale as he and a knuckle-dusting thug pound a metro carriage like a steel drum. The Prosecutor is available on digital platforms on 16 June.
South China Morning Post
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
15 of the best female assassin movies as Ballerina, the new John Wick spin-off, releases
This week sees the cinema release of Ballerina, the first in a series of planned spin-off movies from the incredibly successful John Wick action franchise. Focusing on a new character, Eve, portrayed by Ana de Armas No Time to Die ), the film follows the exploits of a young orphan who is recruited into the secret Ruska Roma organisation, where she is raised as a deadly assassin. Once unleashed into the world, however, Eve applies her new skill set to track down the gangsters responsible for murdering her father. Adopting a more grounded approach than the operatic staging of its predecessors, Ballerina only truly comes to life during its elaborate action set pieces, many of which were apparently overseen by John Wick series director Chad Stahelski during substantial reshoots. Play The inclusion of Keanu Reeves' eponymous anti-hero also betrays a lack of confidence that Ballerina can attract an audience solely on its own merits – something Donnie Yen Ji-dan might want to consider as he embarks on his own John Wick spin-off, based on his character from John Wick: Chapter 4 While not the best example of its genre, Ballerina nevertheless continues a long-standing tradition of female assassin films that stretches back decades.
Geek Tyrant
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Rina Sawayama Returns as Akira in Donnie Yen's JOHN WICK Spinoff Film CAINE — GeekTyrant
After her breakout performance as Akira in John Wick: Chapter 4 , the fierce daughter of Shimazu Koji (Hiroyuki Sanada), Rina Sawayama will reprise her role in Caine , the upcoming spinoff film starring and directed by Donnie Yen. First teased at CinemaCon, Caine will dive deeper into the aftermath of John Wick: Chapter 4 , focusing on Yen's titular character, an assassin newly freed from his obligations to the High Table. The return of Akira hints at unfinished business, and that tension is part of what's making this next chapter so compelling. As Yen put it: 'Most delighted to welcome Rina back into this new exciting journey with us. It will be my pleasure and attempt to elevate her amazing character that left us mesmerized from John Wick: Chapter 4!' Franchise director Chad Stahelski, who's producing through his 87Eleven Entertainment banner, added: 'Rina is such a badass. I love what she did with this role in Chapter 4 and can't wait to see her cross paths with Caine once again.' The spinoff is being produced by John Wick veterans Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, alongside Stahelski. Yen also joins as an executive producer, ensuring his creative vision carries through both in front of and behind the camera. While plot specifics are still under wraps, we know Caine will lean heavily into Hong Kong-style action, something Yen is synonymous with. The latest draft of the screenplay is written by Mattson Tomlin ( The Batman Part II , BRZRKR ), building on a previous version by Robert Askins. Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson previously said: ' John Wick: Chapter 4 introduced us to so many compelling, original characters, including Akira. We're beyond thrilled to have Rina coming back to the franchise—Caine and Akira have unfinished business, and this next chapter in their stories will be explosive.' It's all part of Lionsgate's broader push to expand the Wick universe. Ballerina , the Ana de Armas-led spinoff, is already slated for release on June 6. There's also an animated film in development, directed by Shannon Tindle and written by Vanessa Taylor, as well as a fifth John Wick film currently being worked on. As producer Basil Iwanyk summed up: 'Rina will be a tremendous addition to this film, and we're excited to be returning to Caine's corner of the John Wick Universe as we start production soon.' Akira is back. And this time, the fight just got even more personal. Are you excited to see Rina Sawayama return to the John Wick universe? Source: Variety
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The John Wick Franchise Is Growing With Three New Movies, Including John Wick: Chapter 5 And A Spinoff I've Been Hoping For
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Keanu Reeves' John Wick seemingly died at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4, with the final scene featuring Ian McShane's Winston Scott and Laurence Fishburne's Bowery King standing over the character's grave… but the assassin's journey on the big screen isn't over. In fact, things are significantly heating up in the future of the franchise, as today we got news of three new John Wick projects that are officially in development, including John Wick: Chapter 5. CinemaCon, the annual convention for movie theater owners, is playing out in Las Vegas this week, and during this morning's studio presentation from Lionsgate, the studio announced that the John Wick franchise is expanding in a major way. While director Len Wiseman's Ballerina starring Ana de Armas isn't set to arrive on the big screen until the summer, there are now three other features on the way as well, the titles including John Wick: Chapter 5, the spinoff Caine starring Donnie Yen, and an animated prequel film. Despite the death of the titular character in John Wick: Chapter 4, it took very little time after the release of the film for chatter to begin about a John Wick: Chapter 5, with a studio executive confirming development of the project in May 2023. Director Chad Stahelski has shared some doubt about the sequel, but now it has been announced that both he and Keanu Reeves are officially attached to make another film. Specific plans for production have not been revealed, and the official announcement included neither a release date not the name of a screenwriter who will pen the script. Apparently, however, Keanu Reeves, Chad Stahelski and producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee have found a story that they want to tell. When one considers the box office performance of John Wick: Chapter 4, this isn't the most shocking development – even with acknowledging the death of the eponymous hero. The 2023 sequel was the biggest hit yet for the series, as it finished its run at the box office earning over $440 million worldwide (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum previously set the franchise high water mark making $326.7 million in 2019. Needless to say, John Wick: Chapter 5 is a project that we here at CinemaBlend will be keeping a close eye on as it continues to move through development. One of the key reasons why John Wick: Chapter 4 was such a massive success with both critics and audiences was the exciting franchise addition of Donnie Yen as the blind, hyper-skilled assassin Caine, and it was announced today that the hype has been translated into a spinoff film. A new spinoff simply titled Caine is now in the works, and it is coming together very fast. Donnie Yen will not only be back to star in the upcoming action movie set in the world of John Wick, but he is also going to direct it as well. Yen last provided an update about the film earlier this year, but the project now has the greenlight, and production is going to start in Hong Kong in 2025. Mattson Tomlin, best known for creating the Netflix animated series Terminator Zero, has been tapped to write the screenplay for the film. The filmmaker's other upcoming projects include The Batman Part II, which is being written in collaboration with director Matt Reeves, and BRZRKR, which is based on the comic of the same name and has Keanu Reeves attached to star. Details about the story are being kept a secret for now, but it has been confirmed that Caine will be taking place after the events of John Wick: Chapter 4 and the titular protagonist earning his freedom from the sinister assassin organization known as the High Table. The character was originally going to be killed by Rina Sawayama's Akira in the end credits of the last John Wick movie, but an audible was called to spare the character's life, and that has opened the door for the spinoff. While both John Wick: Chapter 5 and Caine will both be expanding the John Wick canon beyond the events of John Wick: Chapter 4, Lionsgate also announced a new film that will be exploring the past. While the project seemingly doesn't have an official title just yet, an animated prequel movie has been given the green light, and it will tell the story of the legendary Impossible Task that Keanu Reeves' character completed so that he could leave the assassin life behind and live a life of peace with his wife. Shannon Tindle, who most recently co-wrote and directed the Netflix animated film Ultraman: Rising, is taking the helm of the developing film and collaborating with screenwriter Vanessa Taylor, who was a co-executive producer on the second and third seasons of Game Of Thrones and co-wrote Guillermo del Toro's Best Picture-winning 2017 film The Shape Of Water. In an official statement, Chad Stahelski (who is a producer on the project) described the developing prequel feature as a 'John Wick anime' – which informs us about the animation style that will be employed – and Keanu Reeves will be back to voice the movie's lead character. A release date for the animated John Wick prequel has not been announced. Clearly the future of the action franchise is quite bright, and we will continue to follow all of the big developments with these three movies in the weeks, months and years ahead. Audiences will be able to see the next story in the canon, Ballerina, when it arrives in theaters everywhere on June 6, and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend in the coming days for more exciting news out of CinemaCon.
