Ballerina, the John Wick spinoff film starring Ana de Armas, has officially been rescheduled for a 2025 release, pushing the film’s release date by a full year. This will disappoint many, but according to franchise veteran Ian McShane, it shouldn’t.
During an appearance on the talk show The One Show, McShane—who reprises his role of New York Continental proprietor Winston Scott in Ballerina—riffed on the “why” behind Ballerina‘s delay. He revealed that new footage will be shot to “protect the franchise,” which one should take to mean that Ballerina is being treated with the utmost care as a member of the John Wick universe.
“It’s not reshoots, it’s new shoots. They’re shooting for Ballerina, which is the spinoff with Ana de Armas of the John Wick franchise. You know, it’s like they’ve got to protect the franchise. We did it about a year ago, we did the movie Ballerina and they’ve looked at it, and Chad’s [Stahelski] come in, the guy who directed all the John Wick movies, and they want to make it better. Because they have to protect it.”
The actor also showed very little love for The Continental, Peacock’s three-episode miniseries which was created without consulting either McShane or Keanu Reeves. McShane shared his unfiltered thoughts on the show without saying much at all.
“Why would I see The Continental? They never asked anybody about it, they just went and did it. Yeah, they just went and did it without asking me and Keanu about it. We both went, “I don’t know, you never asked us about it.”
The Continental is precisely what happens when a John Wick property is not given the love and care that Ballerina seems to be getting. Beyond its more fundamental issues like its swath of useless characters and uninspired plotting, The Continental didn’t seem to understand the first thing about inhabiting the mythology of the John Wick universe. The series subsequently wound up boasting the energy of an uninspired mood board for middle-aged dads. Indeed, casting Mel Gibson was only the first mistake.
Ballerina will now be released on June 6, 2025.
(featured image: Lionsgate)
Published: Feb 24, 2024 06:03 pm