Rina Sawayama to Reprise ‘John Wick’ Role in Upcoming ‘Caine’ Spin-Off

Rina Sawayama is headed back to the Wick-everse. The singer/actress who made her big screen debut in 2023 in John Wick: Chapter 4 as Shimazu Akira — the daughter of Osaka Continental Hotel manager and Wick pal Shimazu Koji — will reprise the role as the hotel’s concierge in an upcoming expansion of the film’s universe.

According to Variety, Sawayama will once again play Akira in the Wick spin-off Caine, where she will appear opposite that film’s director/star/executive producer Donnie Yen. The legendary Hong Kong action star/producer played the blind High Table assassin Caine in the fourth installment in the blood-spattered action thriller series; Caine is slated to go into production later this year.

Yen had high praise for his co-star, telling Variety, “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!”

Co-producer Chad Stahelski 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.”

At press time there was no additional information on the plot, but according the magazine it is being billed as a “Hong Kong-style action thriller” similar to the Ip Man series that made Yen a star. Caine will reportedly continue the story arc in the wake of the fourth chapter of the series starring Keanu Reeves as a retired hitman lured back into the murder game after the killing of his beloved dog, with Caine now freed from his obligations to the mysterious High Table.

“John Wick: Chapter 4 introduced us to so many compelling, original characters, including Akira,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson. “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.”

The critically acclaimed Wick series is rapidly expanding its cinematic universe, with an upcoming spinoff starring Ana de Armas, Ballerina (June 6), as well as a recently announced animated Wick movie and a fifth chapter of the original film series.

Sawayama fans are still waiting for word on the follow-up to the multi-hyphenate’s 2022 sophomore album, Hold the Girl. The singer most recently appeared alongside Paris Hilton on the influencer and sometime singer’s 2024 comeback single, “I’m Free.”