Yesterday, Lionsgate pushed back its “John Wick” spinoff “Ballerina” a year from its initial June 7 release date to June 6, 2025. Why the delay? Well, franchise fans already knew that Chad Stahelski was back in the fold as creative supervisor to shoot additional action sequences for the film. But series star Ian McShane provided more details during a recent interview on BBC‘s “The One.”
When asked about what’s going with “Ballerina,” McShane replied, “It’s not reshoots, it’s new shoots. You know, it’s like they gotta protect the franchise.” That makes the situation on the spinoff sound much more dire. “About a year ago, we did the movie, and they’ve looked at it, and Chad’s come in, and they want to make it better,” McShane continued.
So obviously, Lionsgate heads didn’t like what Len Wiseman supplied in the film’s earliest cuts. And while reshoots are common in the industry, especially on big-budget releases, McShane’s clarification that it’s “new shoots” means that “Ballerina” is undergoing a massive overhaul, and the studio wants Stahelski at the helm for it. Will that push back Stahelski’s upcoming “Highlander” reboot? Stay tuned on that.
But McShane wasn’t finished dishing out more gossip on the “John Wick” franchise. When a “The One” host asked about the Peacock spinoff “The Continental,” the actor promptly shushed him. “They never asked anyone about it. They just went and did it,” McShane said. “Someone asked Keanu and me about it, and we both went, ‘I don’t know. Nobody ever asked us about it.'” And that prompted the hosts to ask about another series spinoff to a classic Ian McShane performance: Paramount+‘s “Sexy Beast,” based on Jonathan Glazer‘s 2000 film. “Oh, no! Leave me alone!” McShane joked. Clearly, the actor had nothing to do, nor wanted anything to do, with that project.
“Ballerina” sees “John Wick” regulars McShane, Reeves, and the late Lance Reddick return for the spinoff about de Arma’s ballerina assassin out for revenge against the people who killed her family. Angelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, and Norman Reedus also star in the upcoming film, as does Catalina Sandina Moreno. The film takes place between the events of “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” and “John Wick: Chapter 4.”
Stay tuned for more info about “Ballerina.” Lionsgate now has “The Crow” hitting theaters on June 7 instead of the “John Wick” spinoff.