Studio Execs Blame One Critical Misstep for Ballerina's Box Office Flop
Lionsgate's Ballerina was supposed to prove the John Wick universe could thrive without Keanu Reeves front and center.
Instead, it's turned into a case study in how to squander goodwill, hype, and a $90 million budget in one go.
The studio isn't pretending otherwise. CEO Jon Feltheimer admitted to investors that the Ana de Armas-led spin-off posted a €94 million loss, but tried to frame it as a stumble rather than a death blow.
"We remain committed to the John Wick universe," he said, name-checking John Wick 5 and an anime prequel already in development.
The numbers:
- Budget: about $90 million (plus marketing)
- Domestic gross: $58 million
- International gross: $74 million
- Worldwide total: $132 million
- Estimated break-even: $200–225 million
That gap explains the sudden soul-searching.
The embargo that strangled the buzz
Inside Lionsgate, the consensus scapegoat is the studio's "spoiler-free enthusiasm" review embargo — a marketing tactic that let only vague positive posts out from May 22 and held actual reviews until June 4, just two days before release.
The thinking was to keep plot secrets under wraps. The effect? A cloud of suspicion.
"If their exits were so great, why the hell was the review embargo lift so late?!" one industry source fumed.
Without early critic push, Ballerina arrived in cinemas feeling like a movie the studio was hiding.
Director Len Wiseman pushed back against the narrative that the delay and extra shooting meant trouble.
"What were called 'reshoots' were actually additive elements green-lit by a studio that was very excited about the project's potential," he told Vanity Fair.
He also revealed to Entertainment Weekly that casting Norman Reedus was part of long-term plans, teasing a sequel where Eve confronts her presumed-dead mother: "I cast Norman Reedus because I have plans."
Even without the embargo fiasco, Ballerina had a stacked deck against it. A one-year delay dulled whatever heat it had in 2024. When it finally opened, it was up against Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two and Disney's Lilo & Stitch, which pulled in over $32 million that same weekend.
And then there was Reeves. His cameo was meant as a sweetener, but for many it only underscored what was missing. As one fan put it, "Fans don't want a female John Wick… they want Keanu Reeves." That sentiment dominated online chatter.
A flop with fans, not with viewers
The irony is that Ballerina didn't bomb because audiences hated it. Critics gave it 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, PostTrak scores were solid, and CinemaScore handed it an A–. But solid word-of-mouth is useless when the audience never shows up in the first place.
Feltheimer may be betting that the franchise can survive this misstep. But between the late embargo, the crowded release, and a lead character fans weren't ready to rally behind, Ballerina now joins the long list of spin-offs that learned the hard way: a familiar brand name is not a guaranteed ticket to box office glory.