A recently published report has suggested that Ballerina (otherwise known by the fuller title From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina), the upcoming spin-off attached to the John Wick universe, had to undergo substantial reshoots from Chad Stahelski, the mainstay director behind the franchise.
The film, starring Ana De Armas (No Time To Die), with Len Wiseman (Die Hard 4.0), serving as director, was due for release in the summer of 2024 before being pushed back until June 2025. Lionsgate cited at the time that the film needed additional action sequences to meet the expectations of the core audience. Stahelski spearheaded these shoots.
In a report from The Wrap (via ScreenRant), Stahelski is believed to have been heavily involved in the shoot. Following a poor reception to the first cut, Stahelski contributed “significant” segments to the film, shot in Prague, with Wiseman absent from the set.
The reshoots took between two to three months to complete and delayed Stahelski’s involvement in the upcoming Highlander reboot with Henry Cavill. An insider close to The Wrap suggested that Stahelski was drafted “to clean up someone else’s mess.”
“Remember, this film is basically ‘John Wick 3.5. This story happens before ‘John Wick 4’ and after that film, they can’t have a failure in anything ‘Wick’ related. Chad is going to do ‘Highlander,’ but cleaning up ‘Ballerina’ pushed him by five months for sure.”
Ballerina stars Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, and the late Lance Reddick. Norman Reedus, Lorenza Izzo, Abraham Popoola, Anne Parillaud, David Castañeda, and Gabriel Byrne.