John Wick Spinoff Ballerina Gains New Cast Amid Reshoots
The John Wick franchise is punching up the upcoming Ballerina movie with some additional action scenes. In a surprising turn of events, these reshoots won’t just involve the principal cast of the John Wick movie returning to the production, but will also see new additions to the roster. We now know that David Castañeda (The Umbrella Academy) and Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Sex Education) have been added to the cast, but their roles in the movie have not been disclosed at the time of this writing.
No 2024 Release
Originally slated for a 2024 release, Ballerina is now expected to premiere on June 6, 2025. Marking the first cinematic spinoff installment for the John Wick franchise, Ballerina will take place on the timeline between John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, and John Wick: Chapter 4. Focusing primarily on Ana De Armas’ Rooney, the upcoming film will be yet another tale of bloody revenge, and one with plenty of action sequences that hope to live up to the Keanu Reeves-centered franchise’s high standards.
David Castañeda
Reshoots for Ballerina are currently underway, so it’s only a matter of time before we know exactly what kind of roles Castañeda and Duncan-Brewster will take on. Given Castañeda’s experience in the superhero genre with Netflix’s Umbrella Academy, it’s safe to say that his ability to portray a vigilante who has the power to change the trajectory of knives and bullets is a skill that’s transferable to the John Wick Franchise.
Sharon Duncan-Brewster
Duncan-Brewster is no stranger to massive franchise productions like Dune and Rogue One. Best known for her dramatic roles in series like Bad Girls and Sex Education, it will be interesting to see how she’ll fold into the John Wick mix with her contribution to Ballerina.
Expect More Updates
Given the sudden casting announcement, we will need to wait for further developments from the John Wick camp, but it certainly seems that they’re taking the Ballerina reshoots seriously. Hopefully with these updates, we’ll also receive some intel as to what roles Normal Reedus and Catalina Sandino Moreno have in the movie, as no official announcement has been made in regard to what characters they will be portraying.
The Reshoots Create Delays, But They’re Necessary
John Wick mainstay Ian McShane recently said the Ballerina reshoots are necessary to keep the franchise going in the right direction. That’s an important subject to the actor, who also went on record to criticize the prequel series The Continental.
Chad Stahelski, who directed the first four John Wick films, will be working closely with Ballerina director Len Wiseman to ensure that we’re presented with another high-caliber action thriller that lives up to the franchise as a whole. If the reshoots elevate the premise as much as we think they will, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the upcoming spinoff will take on a life of its own and forge its own path within the John Wick universe.
Source: Deadline
