Len Wiseman gives update on ‘John Wick’ spin-off ‘Ballerina’

Speaking with Collider, Ian McShane revealed the main reason Ballerina takes place before Chapter 4 is to keep the suspense alive ahead of John Wick 5, which is currently in development. "This one is set in between John Wick 3 and John Wick 4, because Keanu is in it, too. You didn't want to set it after John Wick 4, because then you'd have social media saying, "Oh, so he's still alive! What's he going to do next time? Is there a John Wick 5?!" This way, you can still keep up the pretense that there might not be a John Wick 5," McShane said.

Ballerina centers around Ana de Armas' titular character, Rooney, who is in a vengeful mood after suffering the trauma of her family being murdered. Rooney was previously seen in Chapter 3 - Parabellum, with Unity Phelan playing the role. According to McShane, Winston will act as a shield for Rooney, using The Continental as a hideout from Gabriel Byrne's mysterious villain. "This time we're protecting Ana de Armas, and I had my great friend, Mr. Lance Reddick. God bless you, Lance — he passed away last year," he said. "Lance and I bring our usual protection towards Ms. de Armas. And Len I found a delight to work for. Again, we worked out the script beforehand, so there was no wasted time."