There’s no denying that Lionsgate didn’t put all its energy into saving From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. The action spin-off seemed to be in trouble just last year, when reports of extensive re-shoots first emerged. This happened while Lionsgate was experiencing a particularly rough patch at the box office, with each of its 2024 movies barely scraping past the $200 million mark in combined domestic revenue. A lot is riding on Ballerina, which opened this week to surprisingly positive reviews, and an even better audience response.

Starring Ana de Armas, Ballerina earned a stellar A- CinemaScore from opening day audiences, which puts it at par with John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. The film’s A- CinemaScore is higher than the B grade earned by the franchise’s first installment over a decade ago, and lower than John Wick: Chapter 4’s A CinemaScore. John Wick 4 remains the series’ highest-grossing film, with nearly $450 million in global box office revenue. The franchise re-energized star Keanu Reeves’ career after a notable dry spell in the 2010s.

He appears in Ballerina, having been shoehorned into the plot in re-shoots. The movie commenced production under the direction of Len Wiseman, who remains best known for the Underworld films, and Live Free or Die Hard, the blockbuster fourth installment of the hit franchise. But Wiseman hadn’t directed a feature film since 2012’s Total Recall reboot, starring Colin Farrell. The movie underperformed at the box office, and earned mixed reviews. It was reported that Wiseman’s cut of Ballerina didn’t exactly meet studio standards, and John Wick overlord Chad Stahelski was brought in to retool the film and add more action.

‘Ballerina’ Wasn’t a Trainwreck After All

Whatever they did, it seems to have worked. The movie currently holds a 74% Rotten Tomatoes score, which is a franchise-low, but solid enough for an R-rated spin-off to a decade-old action series. In his review, Collider’s Ross Bonaime praised the film’s “over-the-top fights and ludicrously fun action scenarios,” and called it a worthy entry in the John Wick cannon. The movie earned an even better 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, which bodes well for its future. Ballerina is eyeing around $30 million at the domestic box office this weekend; you can watch the movie in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.