Are You Ready for a 'John Wick' Universe?
by EG
Lionsgate has won a bidding war to pick up a female-centric spec action script titled Ballerina that will serve as a platform for a possible John Wick spin-off.
Basil Iwanyk, whose Thunder Road banner is behind the hit Wick action franchise, will produce Ballerina.
While Lionsgate is relishing the idea of a franchise expansion, the screenwriter behind Ballerina is living out a Hollywood dream.
The deal marks the first sale for scribe Shay Hatten, the 23-year old who idolizes Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) and who is currently working as a writer's assistant for Robert Downey Jr.’s production company, Team Downey. Hatten has been on an upward Hollywood trajectory since graduating from Loyola Marymount’s School of Film and Television in 2016: He snagged an internship at Team Downey while writing a black comedy script, Maximum King!, in his spare time. The script led to representation at CAA and ended up on last year’s Black List and Blood List.
Read the rest of this article at The Hollywood Reporter.
The John Wick franchise stars Keanu Reeves.