Keanu Reeves' role in the upcoming John Wick spinoff film Ballerina looks to be a bit more substantial than some may have previously anticipated.

During an interview with Collider, John Wick franchise producer Erica Lee and Ballerina co-writer Shay Hatten opened up about how much of Reeves' John Wick fans can expect to see in the Ana de Armas-led spinoff. According to Lee, Reeves was on the set of Ballerina for "about a week," while the late Lance Reddick -- who posthumously reprises his role as Charon -- "shot for a day." While Lee described Reeves as being a last-minute addition to Ballerina, Hatten revealed that the actor's reprisal as John Wick would be more than a mere cameo.

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"We got him to be in it for a good chunk," Hatten said. "He's a real character, and it's not just kind of a one-piece cameo. He's got... Well, I shouldn't say too much, but he's in the movie in a way that I think people are going to be really excited by. And it was cool because it really was... the only reason we set it between three and four was because it felt like there was kind of a cool window of time for John there, because at the end of the third movie, he's been shot off the roof. He's really kind of beaten up, and then he recuperates in the Bowery King's basement."

Hatten continued, "And by the time the fourth movie starts, he's healed. He's on a different side of the world. And we just thought, 'Okay, how did he get from point A to point B? What happened in that little time window?' So it just seemed like a really kind of natural way to fit him in and have him interact with this other character's story during that window. So I think it fills in kind of a missing puzzle piece that people will think is interesting, hopefully."

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What Is Ballerina About?

As Hatten mentioned, Ballerina takes place between the events of 2019's John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum and the newly-released John Wick: Chapter 4. The spinoff film stars the aforementioned De Armas as Rooney, a ballerina on a quest to avenge the death of her family. The role of Rooney was previously portrayed by Unity Phelan in Parabellum.

"Ballerina starts by introducing a character who kind of went through some of the same training as John in the ballet academy of Anjelica Huston['s character] that we see in the third movie," Hatten told Collider. "But then she ends up going to a whole new corner of the world and a new kind of isolated community that really is unlike anything we've seen in these previous John Wick movies."

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Ballerina Is Targeting a 2024 Release

Ballerina is directed by Len Wiseman from a screenplay by Hatten and Emerald Fennell. Production on the John Wick spinoff kicked off in Prague in November 2022. The film was in post-production as of February 2023. Lionsgate executive Joe Drake recently confirmed that Ballerina is currently aiming to release in either the spring or summer of 2024. De Armas is joined in the film by fellow John Wick franchise newcomers Gabriel Byrne, Norman Reedus and Catalina Sandino Moreno. As far as returning franchise actors are concerned, Reeves and Reddick are joined by Ian McShane and Anjelica Huston, who reprise their roles as Winston Scott and The Director, respectively.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is in theaters now. Ballerina is expected to premiere in 2024.

Source: Collider