News of the Week: Keanu Reeves In Talks To Appear In John Wick Spinoff Ballerina

We’re speeding through November, which means Thanksgiving is just around the corner. The weather has grown colder and holiday decorations are out as Hollywood gears up for the big holiday movie season. This week brings one exciting tease of a DC project, more Keanu Reeves, some cool Marvel news, and more.

As always, Atom Insider brings you a few hand-picked stories we think you’ll like. Ready? Let’s dive in.

Deadpool 3 Director Shawn Levy In Talks To Direct Star Wars Pic

Disney has a long history of liking to keep things in-house, preferring to bring back directors and actors they know and trust. It appears Shawn Levy is the next director to flex across Disney’s multiple IPs, with Deadline reporting that he’s in talks to helm a Star Wars movie for Lucasfilm. Of course, the project will come after the Ryan Reynolds threequel Deadpool 3, which Levy has already signed on to direct for Marvel. Levy also previously directed the 20th Century Studios hit Free Guy, also starring Reynolds, which currently has a sequel in development. It’s not yet known what the story could be about or if the studio has a writer lined up for the project yet, but it’s clear Disney likes working with the director and Stranger Things executive producer. Next up for Levy is the WWII-set miniseries All the Light We Cannot See for Netflix. Levy is one of the busiest guys in Hollywood and always has a lot of plates spinning, but there’s no doubt he’ll move quickly on the Star Wars project once Deadpool 3 is in his rearview mirror.

Keanu Reeves Might Be Appearing In John Wick Spinoff Ballerina

It appears we might be getting more John Wick even outside the next John Wick movie. Franchise star Keanu Reeves is in talks to reprise his role of the reluctant assassin in the spinoff film Ballerina, set to be led by rising star Ana de Armas. It’s unclear how large a role Reeves will play in the spinoff, as it’s meant to be de Armas’ vehicle, but he won’t be the only familiar franchise face to appear. The project will also see the return of Ian McShane’s Winston, the sometimes ally of Wick and The Continental Hotel manager. In a revenge plot in the vein of the original John Wick movie, Ballerina is set to follow a young assassin, played by de Armas, who is hellbent on getting revenge on the people who killed her family. Len Wiseman (Underworld) is directing off a script by Shay Hatten (John Wick 3, Army of the Dead) and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman). Before Reeves appears in Ballerina, however, he has a few more projects lined up. First up is John Wick 4, set for release on March 23, 2023. It was also recently announced the long-awaited sequel to Constantine is in development, as well as BRZRKR, an adaptation of Reeves’ own comic book title of the same name. Ballerina doesn’t yet have a release date, but it appears that it’s all coming together. It will be interesting to see how it stands on its own while still staying true to the fabric of the John Wick universe.

And as a special treat, the first trailer for John Wick: Chapter 4 just dropped today. Feast your eyeballs, friends:

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Box Office Projections Are Unsurprisingly Huge

To the surprise of what should be absolutely no one, the box office projections for the opening weekend of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are out and they are eye-popping. Box office experts at Deadline are pegging the hugely anticipated sequel to snag $175-185 million domestically and another $180 million overseas for an opening weekend haul of $355 million to $365 million. Meanwhile, Variety is guessing Black Panther 2 can hit up to $200 million domestically in its opening frame.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to introduce two major new characters to the MCU: Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta, and Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart, played by Dominique Thorne. Namor is the prickly and defiant king of Talokan (Atlantis in the comics), an underwater kingdom that’s often in opposition to Wakanda. Riri is a brilliant engineering prodigy and picks up the baton from the late Iron Man, carrying on his legacy. It’s unclear if Namor will be friend or foe by the end of the movie, but it will be entertaining to watch. Already, the sequel has raked in $45 million in advanced ticket sales. If you want to add to that total, you can get your ticket here.

Daniel Kaluuya Joins Sony’s Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

The Spider-verse just grew by one big name. Daniel Kaluuya has boarded the Sony animated sequel to its groundbreaking 2018 movie, with the reports that he’s joined the voice cast of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Kaluuya will voice a lesser-known Spider-Man variant who is nonetheless beloved by readers of the comics: Hobart “Hobie” Brown, a.k.a. “Spider-Punk,” a homeless teenager and activist living in New York who gains the spider-powers after being bitten by a spider mutated by Norman Osborn’s dumping of toxic waste. A newer character, he was created by writer Dan Slott and artists Olivier Coipel in 2015.

Kaluuya joins a cast that is already stacked with returning and new voice talent, including Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Greta Lee, Issa Rae, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone, Shea Whigham, and Jason Schwartzman. Justin K. Thompson, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Kemp Powers are co-directing, with the original movie’s writer-producer Phil Lord and producer Christopher Miller back as writers, along with David Callaham. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is set to hit theaters on June 2, 2023 after being pushed back by a year.

Jason Momoa Fuels Rumors He Might Be Doing A Lobo Project

And now, here’s something fun: Could Jason Momoa be doing a Lobo movie for DC? The actor, helped out by new DC Studios co-SEO James Gunn, fueled rumors that he could indeed be involved in a Lobo project for the studio. In a recent interview, Momoa let slip that DC is working on a dream project of his. Shortly after that, Gunn shared a tease for Lobo on a new social media account. In a follow-up interview with Momoa, when asked if that was the dream project he was talking about, the actor coyly stated, “Well, everyone knows I’m a comic book fan. The comic I collected the most, and I have every comic there is… you can do your research and find out what it is.” Anyone who has followed Momoa on his social media or who does a little digging will see that the comic he’s talking about is indeed Lobo.

Lobo is a wolf-like humanoid alien with incredible strength. He was initially created in the ’90s as a parody indictment of Marvel’s ultra-violent and dark characters of the era like Wolverine, Punisher, Carnage, etc.; Lobo loves nothing more than drinking and causing violence. However, he ended up becoming a fan-favorite for the very characteristics he was meant to skewer. The galactic bounty hunter ended up becoming one of DC’s more popular characters during the decade. How this will work with Momoa already playing Aquaman is anyone’s guess, but he indeed seems to be dropping breadcrumbs leading back to Lobo.