From the World of John Wick: Ballerina just crossed a major milestone for the franchise. Led by Ana de Armas, the movie follows the ᴀssᴀssin Eve Macarro as she attempts to avenge her father’s death by killing the cult leader the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). The movie ties directly into the John Wick movies, as Keanu Reeves appears as the тιтular star, supporting Eve in her quest to defeat the Cult. Directed by Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard), Ballerina debuted with an underwhelming $24 million at the domestic box office, which is also the second-lowest opener in the franchise.

According to a report by Variety, Ballerina will drop to fourth place in its second weekend in theaters. After earning just $2 million on Friday, it is expected to earn $8.7 million this weekend, which would represent a 64% drop from its debut last week. It should reach $41.1 million domestically and is poised to surpᴀss the first John Wick movie, which earned $43 million in 2014.

What This Milestone Means For Ballerina

It Is Unlikely To Make A Profit

Ballerina crossing the first John Wick movie is some good news, but it is not necessarily enough to put the spinoff on profitable margins. Ballerina‘s budget is $90 million, which will be tough to break even, even if Lionsgate often makes its money back through international pre-sales. In its own right, the spinoff is unlikely to cross the $225 million mark that would make it profitable when considering marketing budgets and the cuts that theaters take. A $41 million total in its sophomore weekend is just not enough to help it reach that total, even if it is standing above another John Wick film:

The unfortunate reality is that, even compared to John Wick (2014), the movie is still struggling. After all, the original movie earned $59 million when accounting for inflation, so Ballerina still has room to grow. It is also unlikely to reach Chapter 2‘s $92 million total, nor any of the other movies in the franchise. Unlike other post-2020 movies, which can reliably point to a shaky post-pandemic box office to explain their disappointing results, Ballerina is stumbling compared to Chapter 4‘s $187 million total.

Our Take On Ballerina’s New Milestone

Streaming Could Still Save Ballerina

While $41 million is an exciting prospect, even if the movie is generally struggling against its budget, movies are no longer fully defined by their theatrical performances. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina will have a second chance when it comes to streaming, where it will be debuting on Starz. The estimated streaming release could be in November, and it will also see a digital release over the summer. Depending on how it performs there, Lionsgate could still see success from this movie, even if it does not see a sequel.

Source: Variety