The highly anticipated spinoff of the John Wick franchise, Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas as a dancer-turned-assassin, underperformed at the box office. The film earned $25 million from 3,409 North American theaters, falling behind Disney’s Lilo & Stitch in its opening weekend.
Ballerina was expected to do better, with projections of $30 million in domestic sales, but even that would have been modest given the film’s production budget of $90 million. The studio had hoped to justify the expansion of the John Wick cinematic universe by appealing to fans without Keanu Reeves, who has played the lead role in four films.
Despite positive audience scores and decent reviews, Ballerina failed to excite fans, with many studios attributing this to the lack of involvement from Reeves. The film’s marketing campaign added a cumbersome title tagline, “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina,” which some argue oversold its connection to the franchise.
Industry analyst David A. Gross described the opening as “weak” for an action thriller spin-off, citing enthusiasm among audiences but low attendance numbers. This is not surprising given that Ballerina marks a new character and storyline within the John Wick universe.
Other films on the box office charts include Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which dropped to third place, and Karate Kid: Legends, which added $8.7 million in its second weekend of release. However, with a budgeted $45 million, it has yet to live up to expectations.
The summer box office is looking promising, with several blockbuster-hopefuls set to arrive later this month. Senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian predicts that the season will surpass last year’s record-breaking $4 billion total and sets the stage for a momentum-driven business throughout the rest of June.
Source: https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/john-wick-ballerina-box-office-opening-weekend-lilo-stitch-rules-1236422459