With two successful installments and a third in early development, “John Wick” has become the next big franchise for Lionsgate. Now the studio could soon dig deeper into Wick’s world with a spinoff fashioned from “Ballerina,” a spec script written by 23-year-old writer Shay Hatten.
A person with knowledge of the spec told TheWrap that it is “premature” to say whether the spec will be turned into a spinoff, though the script’s plot shares elements of John Wick’s journey as a female assassin bent on revenge hunts down those responsible for killing her family.
Basil Iwanyk, who produced the “John Wick” films through Thunder Road Pictures, is attached to the spec. Meanwhile, early plans for “John Wick: Chapter 3” are in motion, with Derek Kolstad returning to write the screenplay. Combined, the two “Wick” films have grossed $258 million worldwide.
A graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, Hatten made the 2016 Black List with another script for a black comedy called “Maximum King!” which tells the story of Stephen King’s struggles with alcohol and raising his family as he writes his first and one of his most famous novels, “Carrie.”
Hatten currently works at Robert Downey Jr.’s production company, Team Downey. He is repped by CAA and Lee Stobby Entertainment. The story was first reported by THR.