Despite its somewhat wordy title, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is generating a great deal of excitement among action fans. The first trailer impressed and, following her memorable role in No Time to Die, this feels like the perfect project to cement Ana de Armas as a badass lead.
Underworld and Total Recall helmer Len Wiseman being tapped to direct raised eyebrows from the start given his hit-and-miss track record. Now, a new report from The Wrap (via ActioNewz.com) suggests he struggled to deliver on the John Wick franchise's promise of top-notch fight scenes.
The trade reveals that John Wick franchise helmer Chad Stahelski was enlisted to reshoot the majority of Ballerina (explaining its release date delay). The filmmaker came on board to improve the action and, as a result, additional photography was extensive.
There's even chatter on social media that Stahelski could have a "Directed by" credit if he wanted. Wiseman was said to be absent from the reshoots in Prague, leaving the John Wick director to redo most of the movie as he saw fit.
As a result of working on Ballerina for two to three months, Stahelski has been forced to delay work on his planned Highlander reboot which, once again, explains that project's apparent delay.
"Of course Chad had to clean up someone else’s mess," an insider reveals. "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," they added.
The John Wick franchise is far too important to Lionsgate to have a spin-off like this tarnish its image; that studio has had a disastrous 2024 thanks to flops like Borderlands and Megalopolis so will be banking on Ballerina being one of 2025's biggest hits.
What will be telling is how much we hear from Wiseman when the press tour kicks off next summer. It's also worth noting that, despite what this piece says, there's every chance the filmmaker was happy to have Stahelski's help in making sure Ballerina's action was as good as it possibly could be.
As always, stay tuned for updates as we have them.
Taking place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Ballerina follows Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) who is beginning her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.
Written by Shay Hatten and directed by Len Wiseman, the movie stars Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, with Ian McShane and Keanu Reeves.
Ballerina arrives in theaters on June 6, 2025.