John Wick Spinoff Test Screening Called Franchise Killer
It looks like there’s some early bad news for Ballerina, the long-awaited John Wick spin-off that stars Ana de Armas as a deadly assassin. Sources indicate that test screenings for the film were “catastrophic” and could be a “franchise killer.” The main complaints about the screening were reportedly poor direction and tonal inconsistencies, so there might have to be some fixing before the film’s current June 6, 2025 release date.
Doomed From The Start?
This test screening for Ballerina isn’t the first hurdle that the John Wick spin-off has faced, as the film was already delayed a year. The original release date was supposed to be early last month, but it ended up needing reshoots, and Chad Stahelski, who directed all four films in the mainline franchise, came in to oversee its production. Reports said Stahelski also oversaw the reshoots and shadowed Ballerina director Len Wiseman for the additional action sequences that were needed.
Another strange report about the Ballerina reshoots was that David Castaneda and Sharon Duncan-Brewster were added to the cast of the John Wick spin-off. While their casting isn’t strange on its face, it is unusual to bring on new characters when they didn’t exist in the original script. It seems like, along with the allegedly poor direction, there might be some issues with the script as well.
Past Successes Don’t Necessarily Beget Future Ones
Ballerina is the first feature film spin-off in the John Wick franchise, so it’s possible the lack of continuity behind the scenes could be to blame. For one, this is Len Wiseman’s first crack at the franchise after Stahelski directed every previous entry. Wiseman’s resume includes the Underworld series and Live Free or Die Hard, so that experience doesn’t necessarily lend itself well to a John Wick movie.
Losing The Plot
And while Shay Hatten did work on the previous two John Wick films, he usually co-wrote them with someone else. For Ballerina, Shay Hatten handled the script solo without other John Wick screenwriters like franchise creator Derek Kolstad or previous collaborators Chris Collins, Michael Finch, and Marc Abrams. Other than the Wick films, Hatten recently worked with Zack Snyder on Rebel Moon, which was roundly panned by everyone.
Reshoots May Not Be Enough
Ballerina star Ian McShane, who is reprising his role from previous John Wick films, also recently spoke about the reshoots saying, “Chad [Stahelski] came in … and they want to make it better because you have to protect the franchise.” It’s clear that there’s something going wrong with the story, as McShane outright said the reshoots were an effort to make the film better. Judging by this test screening news, it seems like the project may have been too much of a mess to salvage with reshoots alone.
Hopefully The Project Can Be Salvaged
Hopefully, Lionsgate is able to pull things together before Ballerina releases in a year, because the John Wick spin-off seemed so promising when it was announced. Ana de Armas as a ballerina assassin in the lore-rich John Wick universe seems like a perfect pitch, especially with Anjelica Huston and Ian McShane reprising their roles (and a cameo from Keanu Reeves). Plus, the film is going to be the late Lance Reddick’s final bow as Charon, so fans were hoping it would be on a high note.
