From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is projected to have one of the lowest box office openings in the franchise, but there are reasons to be hopeful about its prospects moving forward. According to Deadline, Ballerina is estimated to gross somewhere between $25.5-27.5 million domestically over its first three days. When compared to the other John Wick movies, that figure would be higher than only the 2014 original, which debuted with $14.4 million domestically. Heading into its premiere, Ballerina was tracking for an opening in the neighborhood of $30+ million, but it’s going to fall a little short of those initial projections.
All is not bad for the spinoff, however. Audiences seem to be enjoying Ballerina quite a bit. The film has earned an A- CinemaScore, which is one of the highest marks in the John Wick franchise. Only 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4 fared better in this department, receiving an A CinemaScore. Moviegoers gave Ballerina the same grade as John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. This means the action movie has generated positive word of mouth.
Set between the events of John Wick 3 and John Wick 4, Ballerina stars Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, a member of the Ruska Roma who embarks on a personal mission for revenge against the people who killed her father. The film earned positive reviews from critics (75% on Rotten Tomatoes), with many praising the high-octane action sequences and de Armas’ performance. Ballerina is considered to be a worthy addition to the John Wick franchise, illustrating how the franchise can survive with a new lead.
[RELATED – Ballerina Convinced Me That Ana de Armas Should Take Over the John Wick Franchise]
On the heels of John Wick 4 grossing a series best $440.1 million worldwide, Lionsgate has big plans to turn the franchise into one of its premier brands moving forward. Ballerina was just one of many John Wick projects in development. The studio is also working on a Caine spinoff, with Donnie Yen reprising his fan-favorite John Wick 4 character. Lionsgate is hopeful veteran franchise director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves will be able to crack the right story for John Wick 5.
As a spinoff focusing on a new character, Ballerina was never expected to break franchise records. It would have been unreasonable to think it was going to top John Wick 4‘s opening of $73.8 million domestic. While it’s disappointing to see Ballerina struggle to meet the initial projections of $30+ million, the high end of the weekend estimates are still in that ballpark, and ideally, the word of mouth will give it a boost for the rest of its theatrical run. Some people might have been unsure if a John Wick movie could work without John Wick and weren’t in a rush to see Ballerina on opening weekend. But now that Ballerina‘s been hailed as a fun time at the movies, viewers could be more inclined to check it out, knowing their ticket will be money well spent. It’ll be interesting to see how Ballerina holds in the coming weeks.
With Disney’s Lilo and Stitch remake and action sequel Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning continuing to perform well, Ballerina was up against some stiff competition as it opened. The good news is that the new arrivals releasing over the next couple of weeks skew more towards the family crowd; How to Train Your Dragon opens on June 13th, and Pixar’s Elio follows on June 20th. That means Ballerina should be one of the top options for older moviegoers looking for some hard-hitting action. Limited competition plus the word of mouth sounds like a combination for legs at the box office before F1 opens at the end of the month.
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