Ana De Armas’ Latest R-Rated Thriller Deserves Its Streaming Success (#2 Trending In The U.S.)

Ana de Armas’ most recent movie endeavor is an R-Rated thriller that’s trending at #2 in the U.S., and for good reason. Ana de Armas has been acting for decades, beginning with Spanish-language productions that weren’t seen by wide audiences, but beginning in 2016, with War Dogs, people started to take notice.

She moved on to Blade Runner 2049 as the memorable Joi, but it was the 2019 Knives Out that really launched her into mainstream stardom. Now, she’s the lead character in a spinoff to one of the more high-value modern action franchises: John Wick. In 2025’s Ballerina, De Armas stars as Eve Macarro.

A traumatic upbringing results in Eve becoming a member of the Ruska Roma, an association of assassins who perform under the cover of performing ballerinas. Set between John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Chapter 4, Ballerina is another action-packed entry in the franchise, and it’s currently trending at #2 in the U.S. on HBO Max (via FlixPatrol).

Ballerina Is A Strong Addition To The John Wick Universe

The John Wick franchise is a bit of a modern marvel. It’s not based on any existing IP. The first film was made on a relatively low budget. Its star, Keanu Reeves, was well-liked, but his career had stagnated somewhat, and action as a film genre was not as in vogue as it had been in the 2000s.

There weren’t high expectations for it, but it immediately captured people’s attention and reinvigorated interest in the action genre and Reeves’ career. Three more movies followed, and though they were of varying degrees of quality, they had massive box office returns, and the final film is generally ranked the first or second best.

Ballerina, with its 75% on Rotten Tomatoes and $140 million box office take (via BoxOfficeMojo), slots in well with the John Wick universe. It expands the deep, complex John Wick world without relying too much on the plot beats of the original film. It finds its own path and makes the franchise feel bigger, not smaller.

Ana De Armas Is Becoming One Of Our Great Action Super Stars

Ana de Armas has quietly risen to be one of our modern action stars the past couple of years. When it comes to thinking about who leads the pack in the action genre, I like to imagine who would appear in a remake of The Expendables 25 years from now, and I think De Armas would be in the cast.

In 2021, De Armas briefly appeared in No Time to Die as Paloma, a newbie Cuban agent, and basically stole the movie from Daniel Craig. In The Gray Man, she plays Dani Miranda, a CIA agent. Ghosted sees her as a legendary CIA operative known as “the Taxman”.

John Wick Franchise
Year	Title	Rotten Tomatoes	Box Office Mojo
2014	John Wick	86%	$86,013,056
2017	John Wick: Chapter 2	89%	$171,539,887
2019	John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum	89%	$327,777,335
2023	John Wick: Chapter 4	94%	$447,142,521
2023	The Continental	63%	–
2025	Ballerina	75%	$140,201,236

And de Armas is clearly comfortable in physical roles, and as she’s grown more confident in her Hollywood performances and lead parts, she seems to be more drawn to action roles. Ballerina is the first time she has solo-led an action film, and this could end up being the first of many similar roles.