Lilo & Stitch continues to triumph at the box office in spite of competition from From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. The Ballerina release kicked off during the first weekend of June, with the Ana de Armas-led John Wick spinoff arriving one week after Karate Kid: Legends and two weeks after the Memorial Day tentpoles Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and Lilo & Stitch. The latter, which is Disney’s live-action remake of their 2002 animated hit, broke the record for the biggest Memorial Day weekend debut in history and has quickly zoomed past a worldwide gross of $600 million.
Per Variety, as of Saturday morning, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is expected to earn a 3-day domestic gross of between $25.5 million and $27.5 million by the end of its opening weekend, falling behind its expected $28 million. However, this is still enough for it to take No. 2 on the domestic chart, though it was unable to topple Lilo & Stitch, which takes No. 1 for the third consecutive weekend with a projected total of $33 million.
What This Means For Ballerina
It May Not Turn A Profit
This opening weekend will see Ballerina premiering with the second worst 3-day domestic debut of all five John Wick movies, behind the original 2014 installment, which was an unknown quantity at the time and only debuted with $14.4 million before becoming an $86 million hit. While this is not unexpected given the fact that it is a spinoff rather than a direct continuation, Ballerina ends the franchise’s trend of each new movie debuting with roughly $20 million more than the previous installment. Below, see a breakdown of the box office performance of the previous four installments in the action franchise:
Title
Opening Weekend
Worldwide Box Office
John Wick (2014)
$14.4 million
$86 million
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
$30.4 million
$174.3 million
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)
$56.8 million
$328.3 million
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
$73.8 million
$440.2 million
While the reported budget of Ballerina is roughly $90 million, making it the second most costly John Wick movie behind Chapter 4, Lionsgate typically covers the costs of their releases with international presales. However, if the new installment follows the precedent set by the previous movies, which all had worldwide multipliers of just under 6, it may only earn between $145 and $165 million by the end of its run. This would make it the second lowest-grossing installment of the franchise, falling just behind Chapter 2’s worldwide gross of $174.3 million.
Our Take On The Weekend Box Office
Lilo & Stitch Needs A Proper Challenge
While Lilo & Stitch is a runaway hit, in order for the summer movie season of 2025 to truly succeed, it can’t be propped up by a single title. Stitch needs to be met with a proper challenger sooner than later, as neither Karate Kid: Legends nor From the World of John Wick: Ballerina has proven to be an overly strong performer. This need may be met soon, as the live-action How to Train Your Dragon premieres on June 13 and could capture much of the same nostalgic audience as Stitch, making it the second major hit of the summer.
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Source: Variety