Many of us saw this coming. Lionsgate‘s John Wick spinoff “Ballerina,” starring Ana de Armas, has been delayed a year from June 7, 2024 to June 6, 2025.
This latest update comes as ‘John Wick’ architect Chad Stahelski has agreed with Lionsgate to oversee the entire franchise. Supposedly, Stahelski is working with “Ballerina” director Len Wiseman on “additional action sequences” for the movie.
This news had me thinking about rumors from last October, started by X account Empire City, that detailed the film as a “mess” and how they basically have to re-shoot the entire thing from scratch. Stahelski will be overseeing it all.
Production on “Ballerina” began in November 2022. The film was in post-production by February 2023. Lionsgate plans to develop a sequel, again starring Ana de Armas, so there’s a lot riding on the launch being a successful one. I wouldn’t be surprised if Stahelski has just taken over the entire thing.
In “Ballerina,” De Armas plays an assassin, and Anjelica Huston reprises her role as head of the Ruska Roma crime organization. Ian McShane is back as hotelier Winston. Keanu Reeves has a cameo. It’s also the late Lance Reddick’s final on-screen performance as Charon.
The film, which centers on a female assassin (Armas) who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family, has had zero promotional material released so far. Suffice to say, we’ll be keeping a close eye on this one, and whether any progress gets made as reshoots are supposed to commence sometime in the Spring.
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.