When John Wick spin-off Ballerina was pushed back almost a year, from June 7th, 2024 to June 6th, 2025, it was clear there was an issue but it seems it was a bigger issue than we realised.
When John Wick star Ian McShane said of the reshoots earlier this year that “It’s not reshoots, it’s new shoots,” adding, “obviously, they’ve got to protect the franchise. About a year ago we did the movie. They looked at it and Chad has come in … and they want to make it better because you have to protect the franchise,” we had our first taste of just how extensive they may have been… if they’re protecting the franchise, that means there was some real unhappiness with the work A Good Day to Die Hard’s Len Wiseman had done behind the camera.
Chad in this case was Chad Stahelski, director of John Wick and overseer of the whole John Wick universe, giving him final say on all Wick-related media, including Ballerina.
Well, now a new report says that the original cut of Ballerina was ‘a mess’ that ‘didn’t pass muster’ with Lionsgate or Stahelski, resulting in ‘a significant portion’ of the movie being reshot.
Donnie Yen’s Blind assassin Caine gets his own John Wick spinoff movie
“Of course Chad had to clean up someone else’s mess. Remember, this film is basically John Wick 3.5,” says the source of the new report, adding, “This story happens before John Wick 4 and after that film, they can’t have a failure in anything Wick-related.”
In fact, they even went to far, according to the reports, as to add two new characters played by David Castañeda and Sharon Duncan-Brewster, implying that the script and everything else was reworked too.
I hope this isn’t a bad omen for the movie, as reshoots often spell doom for movies, but I have faith in Stahelski and his vision for the world of John Wick, heck, I even liked The Continental which seems to be less that loved by the fans.
Ian McShane talks John Wick, Ballerina additional filming and more
The movie is set for release next summer but with more Wick movies, TV shows, anime and games planned, I’m confident we’ll be writing about this world well before then.
Taking place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the film follows Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) who is beginning her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.
Ballerina stars Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, with Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves, it’s directed by Len Wiseman.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina arrives in cinemas on June 6th, 2025
Source: The Wrap
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
Nerd Comments