The JOHN WICK Spinoff BALLERINA Was Reportedly a Big Mess Until Director Chad Stahelski Came in to Fix It — GeekTyrant

As you know, the release of the John Wick spinoff movie Ballerina was pushed back a whole year. It was previously reported that the reason was so that the creative team could “amp” up the action scenes in the movie.

Well, it turns out there might be more to the story. It’s being reported that Underworld and Total Recall director Len Wiseman made a mess of the film, so John Wick franchise director Chad Stahelski was brought in to clean it up.

According to The Wrap (via ActioNewz.com) Wiseman struggled to deliver on the John Wick franchise’s promise of top-notch fight scenes. 

They even reveal that Stahelski ended up reshooting the majority of the film. The filmmaker came on board to improve the action, but ended up doing a lot more additional extensive filming.

It’s even being said that he reshot so much of the film that Stahelski could end up getting a “Directed by” credit if he wanted. It’s said that Wiseman was not around for the reshoots in Prague, leaving the John Wick director to redo most of the movie as he saw fit. 

Because of all the work that Staheleski has been doing on Ballerina, he was forced to delay his work on the Highlander film he’s been developing with Henry Cavill.

An insider shared: “Of course Chad had to clean up someone else’s mess. 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.”

The added: “Chad is going to do Highlander, but cleaning up Ballerina pushed him by five months for sure.”

The John Wick franchise has set a very high standard and Lionsgate and Stahleski want to make sure that From The World of John Wick: Ballerina reaches the bar of badass excellence that has been set.

Ballerina is set between John Wick 3 and John Wick 4, and the story focuses on a young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family.

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.