The foreign media faced a strange kind of embargo for the upcoming film «Ballerina» by Lionsgate — the studio allowed only good reviews to be published until June 4, while negative reviews only after that date.
This was reported by Jordan Rumi of World of Reel, citing emails the studio sent to the press. To be precise, Lionsgate has been allowing «enthusiastic» and spoiler-free reviews since May 22, while «critical» reviews are prohibited until June 4.
I gotta hand it to BALLERINA distributors Lionsgate, most studios don’t have the stones to come right out and say, “you’re allowed to tweet about it, but only if it’s positive” — commendable honesty! pic.twitter.com/BgYNQ64zQo
— Charles Bramesco (@intothecrevasse) May 22, 2025
Is it strange? If you ignore the previous rumors about reshoots, yes. Last year, The Wrap wrote that the director «John Wick» Chad Stahelski had to to reshoot «most of» the work of his colleague Len Weismanbecause his version of «Ballerinas» turned out to be «messy». This, in turn, affected the development delay «Gorska» Stahelski was in charge of, and the fact that Henry Cavill, who had been pre-selected for the lead role, was not, joined the «Voltron» project.
Interestingly, the actor Ian McShane, who plays in «Ballerina», accidentally confirmed additional filming in an interview with a hint that the movie turned out «not very good», while in Lionsgate publicly denied all rumors.
«Ballerina» — is a spinoff of «John Wick», which tells the story of former ballerina Eva Maccaro, who turns into a ruthless killer to take revenge on the people who destroyed her family. The character appeared in the original films of the franchise, but was played by Unité Phelan. Ana de Armas will offer a new take on Maccaro, and she won’t be alone in the fight — Keanu Reeves will reprise the role of John Wick as the events unfold between the third and fourth films in the series, where his character has not yet had a tragic ending. In addition to de Armas and Reeves, the cast of «Ballerinas» includes Norman Reedus, the aforementioned McShane, Anjelica Huston, Gabrielle Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno and the late Lance Reddick.
Website Comicbook meanwhile, gave a brief overview of the first reactions, which were indeed extremely positive, with praise for the action and de Armas’ acting. Some have gone so far as to nominate «Ballerina» as the film of the year — you can find out if this is true on June 4, when the film starts in Ukrainian cinemas.
As a reminder, in April, Lionsgate officially announced the development of «John Wick 5», which will show «a completely new story» not related to the High Table. Keanu Reeves will return to the role, despite his seeming death in the previous movie. The studio also announced the development of a prequel cartoon with Reeves’ voice acting, Alive» spinoff about the blind killer Kane and serial spinoff «John Wick: Under the High Table».
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