Actor Ian McShane, who plays Winston in the John Wick franchise has not been beating around the bush when it comes to openly criticizing the television spin-off The Continental as well as the film spin-off Ballerina starring Ana de Armas.
Laurence Fishburne (“Bowery King”, left) and Ian McShane (“Winston”, right) in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
Back in January, McShane informed MovieWeb that he has not watched The Continental has no intention of watching it and claimed the entire series was a cash grab made without the consultation of Keaunu Reeves and film director Chad Stahelski.
McShane said, “No, I wouldn’t watch it. I have no intentions – nobody – I don’t think Keanu watched it, neither has Chad. It had nothing to do with our movies. It’s just a question of a TV company cashing in on the series and taking the option to [air?]. ”
He added, “They never asked us about anything so why would I be interested in seeing it? I’m afraid their arrogance in getting the show out is beyond me so I wish them well. I think it’s come and gone, hasn’t it?”
Keanu Reeves as John Wick and Donnie Yen as Caine in John Wick 4. Photo Credit: Murray Close
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The Continental: From the World of John Wick has an average 7.2 rating on IMDb from over 35,000 reviews.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick IMDb score
On Rotten Tomatoes, the show has a 78% Audience Score.
The Continental: rom the World of John Wick Rotten Tomatoes scores
Not only did McShane heavily criticize the Peacock limited series, but he also explained why the spin-off film Ballerina was delayed an entire year.
The film was initially supposed to arrive in theaters on June 7, 2024, but has since been delayed an entire year to June 6, 2025. The Hollywood Reporter’s Aaron Couch and Ryan Gajewski claimed insiders informed them the delay was for “additional action sequences under the guiding hand of director Chad Stahelski.”
Keanu Reeves as John Wick in John Wick 4. Photo Credit: Murray Close
However, McShane disabused that notion during an appearance on The One Show.
He said, “It’s not reshoots, it’s new shoots. The new shooting for Ballerina, which is the spin-off with Ana de Armas of the John Wick franchise. You know, it’s like they’ve got to protect the franchise. We did it about a year ago, we did the movie, Ballerina, and they’ve looked at it and Chad’s come in, the guy who’s directed all the John Wick movies, and they want to make it better because they have to protect [it] because Keanu’s in it as well.”
McShane went on to share some details, “And it takes place between John Wick 3 and John Wick 4.”
Ian McShane on #TheOneShow is great because I love the honesty – talking about how Ballerina wasn’t good so they need to shoot more stuff to protect the franchise and then how they don’t talk about The Continental show because they just made it without consulting Keanu and him 😠pic.twitter.com/LwbQrTzLpU
— Adam Khan (@Adam_Khan100) February 22, 2024
The topic of The Continental would then be brought up and McShane reiterated his comments to MovieWeb, “Why would I have seen it? They never asked anybody about it. They just went and did it. Somebody asked Keanu and me about it, we both went, ‘I don’t know, nobody ever asked us about it.’
As noted above, Ballerina arrives on June 6, 2025. The official synopsis states, “The world of John Wick expands with Ballerina, as Ana de Armas stars as an assassin trained in the traditions of the Ruska Roma.”
Keanu Reeves (“John Wick”) stars in Summit Entertainment’s, a LIONSGATE company, John Wick
What do you make of McShane’s comments about The Continental and Ballerina?
