John Wick felt like lightning in a bottle. Keanu Reeves’ action thriller franchise lasted four installments, but now the universe is expanding. First came The Continental, a spinoff series focusing on the assassin hotel featured in the film series. Now, the world of John Wick is returning to the silver screen with Ballerina, a slick neo-noir starring Ana de Armas.
But Ballerina’s path to release hasn’t exactly been graceful. A recent report claims another director needed to come in for reshoots, a bad omen for the future of this franchise — and a reveal of what exactly makes it tick.
According to a recent report from The Wrap, most of Ballerina had to be reshot by Chad Stahelski, the co-director of John Wick and the director of all its sequels, after the version directed by Len Wiseman didn’t meet expectations. “Of course Chad had to clean up someone else’s mess. Remember, this film is basically John Wick 3.5,” a source says in the report. “This story happens before John Wick 4 and after that film, they can’t have a failure in anything Wick related.”
However, Lionsgate clarifies that Wiseman led the reshoots, which took place over the course of a month, with Stahelski only present to guide the action design of new scenes and create bigger action sequences. It was during these reshoots that Wiseman reportedly suffered a serious health issue and was briefly hospitalized, leading Stahelski to step in to helm the additional scenes. Wiseman would make a full recovery to finish the film alongside Stahelski, Lionsgate says.
Even so, Ballerina really is a risky project. After The Continental received mixed reviews from critics, the franchise needs to prove that the John Wick universe doesn’t need John Wick to succeed. But if this report is anything to go by, it does in fact need Chad Stahelski. After his John Wick co-director David Leitch left for greener pastures (aka endless collaborations with Ryan Reynolds), Stahelski has become the creative and visual force behind the John Wick franchise, shaping it into an action franchise full of both kinetic thrills and stunning cinematic landscapes. Hopefully, Ballerina’s new iteration can prove to audiences that these spinoffs can work, but whether another director can step in still remains to be seen.
The John Wick universe’s success should be fueled by its high-octane assassin-filled action, but this report seems to imply it is defined by who is behind the camera. Chad Stahelski can’t direct everything — his Highlander reboot film was delayed by his work on Ballerina — so hopefully a worthy understudy is waiting in the wings.
