That offshore cash would be on par with the start of John Wick: Chapter 3 in 2019.
Spinoffs rarely put up similar or better numbers than an original franchise’s installments; 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4 the best bow in series at $73.8M.
Sources advise not to comp Ballerina to any John Wick movies (this despite the fact that Reeves is in the marketing), rather the best comps are solo female action movies, i.e.
Critics generally love John Wick movies, with the pics ranging from 86% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes to Chapter 4‘s franchise high of 94% certified fresh.
No Rotten Tomatoes audience score yet.
Ballerina, Lionsgate’s John Wick spinoff, may or may not clear $30 million this weekend in the United States. S. /Canada, take into account the victory in support of exhibition, which will have significantly more revenue in the marketplace.
In addition to opening in 82 countries, Len Wiseman’s action film Ana de Armas is anticipated to earn an additional $30 million, for a total worldwide receipt of about $60 million. The beginning of John Wick: Chapter 3 in 2019 would be comparable to that offshore cash. In Latin America and the United Kingdom, Lionsgate distributes itself.
Mostly financed by overseas sales, the $80M to $90M film, which was postponed for a year to allow for more filming (don’t say reshoots, okay?) is predicted to come in second on the first weekend of June. No, Disney’s Lilo and Stitch will win three straight. -43 percent, 1 with $35M. After surpassing $300 million this week, it remains the second-highest-grossing film at the domestic box office so far this year, trailing only Warner Bros./Legendary’s A Minecraft Movie ($423.1M).
LINKED: The Films That Have Earned Over $1 Billion at the Box Office.
Ballerina stars Armas as Eve Macarro, an orphan trained by the Russian ballet academy/assassin school Ruska Roma, whose director, The Director (Anjelica Huston), also trained John Wick (Keanu Reeves). Eve, who turns into a hired shooter, is ultimately determined to exact revenge for the death of her father, who was killed by The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). The John Wick gang makes numerous appearances along the way, including Wick himself, Winston (Ian McShane), and Charon (the late Lance Reddick), the concierge at the Continental Hotel in New York.
Rarely do spinoffs meet or surpass the box office performance of the original franchise’s installments; 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4 had the best bow in the series at $73–8M. Despite the fact that Reeves is in the marketing, sources advise against comparing Ballerina to any John Wick films; instead, the best comparisons are with women in action films. E. Madame Web ($15.3M, 2024), Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ($26.3M, 2024), and Alita: Battle Angel ($28.5M in 2019).
According to rumors, Ballerina’s Fandango presales are 32% ahead of Madame Web’s, but 50% behind Furiosa’s. Ballerina is opening at this time because Lionsgate had access to Reeves for the press tour, even though we needed product in Q1 and Q2 of this year. He launched the film Tuesday night at the Hollywood premiere with John Wick architect Chad Stahelski, who is a producer on the new film. First choice is the most popular among men over 25, according to one tracking service, but Furiosa is 40% behind in the same demo.
Ballerina is just one more piece in Lionsgate’s grand plan to expand the John Wick franchise beyond its current scope, which includes an animated prequel and a film directed by Donnie Yen about blind assassin Caine. This plan was revealed at CinemaCon. The Continental, a Peacock series, has already been released.
John Wick films are generally well-reviewed by critics; their certified fresh ratings range from 86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes to 94 percent on Chapter 4, the franchise high.
Today at 7 p.m., fan screenings will begin. M. for the R-rated Ballerina, with additional sneak peeks beginning at 6 p.m. A. on Thursday.
This weekend, what else is happening?
Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is targeting about $15 million in weekend three, -45 percent, with a firm hold on Imax. The current running cume is $129.3M.
Sony is targeting about $10 million, or -51 percent, for the second weekend of Karate Kid: Legends. The total revenue for the film through Tuesday is $24.1 million.
LINKED: Cannes Film Festival Review of “The Phoenician Scheme”: Benicio Del Toro Laughably Outperforms Wes Anderson’s New All-Star Wes Anderson Film.
Focus Features is spending approximately $7 million to expand Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme from six theaters to 1,600 for a three-day run. The Cannes premiere had the highest opening theater average of the year last weekend, grossing $93,4K. In contrast, two Junes ago, Asteroid City made $9 million on 1,675 theaters during its second weekend of its wide break. Rotten Tomatoes audience score is still pending.
The Australian shark film, Dangerous Animals, debuted at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight with an 88 percent fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Hassie Harrison and Jai Courtney star in the Sean Byrne-directed film Final Girl, which centers on a shark tour guide who feeds his customers to the sharks. Expect a low-single-digit start when booking at 1,600 theaters. With an initial valuation of $3.6M, IFC’s Clown in the Cornfield is now worth $7.2M.
8 markets and 16 theaters will screen Neon’s acquisition, The Life of Chuck, which took home the TIFF People’s Choice Award. Based on Stephen King’s short story, the film, which was written and directed by Mike Flanagan, chronicles three periods in the life of Tom Hiddleston’s character, Charles Krantz, an average guy. The freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 88 percent.
