John Wick’s highly anticipated spinoff Ballerina starring Ana de Armas has officially been delayed for another 12 months. Upsetting fans with the disappointing update, the movie is now rescheduled to appear in theatres in the Summer of 2025. The reports came from Deadline after filmmaker Chad Stahelski inked a new deal with Lionsgate.
Currently overseeing the entire franchise, John Wick’s Chad Stahelski is said to be working with Ballerina director Len Wiseman. Focusing on the additional action sequences for the film is what apparently got the spinoff delayed by another year.
Ana de Armas’ Ballerina Got Delayed by a Year
Following the success of Keanu Reeves’ John Wick franchise Lionsgate got all hyped and dropped the news of a spin-off film Ballerina, focusing on a young female assassin played by Ana de Armas. Narrating the story of the young assassin, who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family, de Armas’ character is set to appear alongside Reeves, Ian McShane, Gabriel Byrne, and more.
“This one is set in between John Wick 3 and John Wick 4, because Keanu is in it, too. You didn’t want to set it after John Wick 4, because then you’d have social media saying, “Oh, so he’s still alive! What’s he going to do next time? Is there a John Wick 5?!” This way, you can still keep up the pretense that there might not be a John Wick 5.” Ian McShane told Collider.
Unfortunately, despite things being all set to start production and release the film by the summer of 2024, Ana de Armas’ Ballerina got delayed by a year. According to reports from Deadline, the highly anticipated John Wick spin-off is now rescheduled for a June 6, 2025 opening. The delay apparently happened because the film will be shooting additional action sequences.
The reports came from Lionsgate insiders, who noted that John Wick director Chad Stahelski is getting involved in the project. Inking a new deal with Lionsgate, Stahelski is now set to oversee the entire franchise, which made him reconsider a few action scenes in the spin-off, leading to delay.
Chad Stahelski Overseeing Ballerina With Len Wiseman
Much to audiences’ dismay, Ana de Armas’ Ballerina got delayed by 12 months because of Chad Stahelski’s new deal with Lionsgate. Previously, Ballerina director Len Wiseman was alone overseeing the whole film, but now with Stahelski’s involvement, things started getting double-checked, leading to a longer delay.
It has been reported that Chad Stahelski will be working with Ballerina with director Len Wiseman on additional action sequences for the film. Given that Stahelski has directed all four movies in the John Wick universe, his experience will undoubtedly be priceless in making sure that Ballerina stays consistent with audiences’ expectations from the series.
Further, Chad Stahelski’s experience as a stunt performer and coordinator will also spice up the action in the spin-off, much like the OG John Wick franchise. But with Ana de Armas’ movie facing a delay for valid reasons, fans also believe that giving up the 2024 release date marks a concerning opening of the film in a more crowded market.
Idk if I can keep it together much longer with all these delays… pic.twitter.com/ovVkjOsegB
— Praveer Tiwari (@therealpraveer) February 22, 2024
Len Wiseman directed this? He has exited more projects than he's ever finished. We're going to find out that Chad directed all the reshoots, and probably did everything else
Seriously, Google how many projects Len Wiseman has been attached to that never went anywhere
— Matt Jarbo (@mjarbo) February 22, 2024
Hiring Len Wiseman was their first mistake.
— Austin (@AustinPlanet) February 22, 2024
Delaying it without a valid reason will make is lose interest in it.
— Jacob (@UtdJacobi) February 22, 2024
The question is why did they hire Len Wiseman in the first place? https://t.co/Z1umJa0HtB
— jacob (@LongMacVampyr) February 22, 2024
Len Wiseman directed a bad movie that you now need to try and save it with reshoots? I’m shocked, SHOCKED I tell you https://t.co/r5q1XgubuM
— Jacob Blunden (@JacobBlunden) February 22, 2024
With major releases like the live-action How to Train Your Dragon, The Black Phone 2, and the live-action Moana all set to release in 2025, fans are worried if Ana de Armas’ Ballerina will be able to create an impact. Meanwhile, fans also point out how the spinoff needed Chad Stahelski’s interference a long time back, especially since Len Wiseman is often known for his unfinished projects.
It seems, all this while netizens have been concerned about how Ana de Armas’ spinoff would turn out, considering that the film was directed solely by Wiseman. But now that Stahelski has taken over the project, fans can finally sit back and relax, while waiting for its release.
Ballerina rescheduled to drop on June 6, 2025.
