'It's really misleading': Ballerina director Len Wiseman explains why the John Wick series' new movie shouldn't be called a spin-off film

• Ballerina: From the World of John Wick shouldn't be called a spin-off, its director says
• The film series' latest entry is set between the third and fourth John Wick movies
• It "expands on the mythology" of the action thriller franchise, he adds

Ballerina director Len Wiseman has rejected claims that the John Wick film franchise's latest entry is a spin-off.

Speaking to TechRadar ahead of the movie's release, Wiseman argued that it should actually be called a "spin-on" – i.e. a film that puts its own spin on a film franchise's well-established formula.

Wiseman admits that very few people, if anyone, will have heard the phrase "spin-on" before. Nevertheless, he insists that the Ana de Armas-starring film is "fully connected" to the movie series' other entries – and not just because Wick appears in it.

Ballerina's first trailer raised eyebrows about Wick's inclusion. After all ...