411 Box Office Report: Lilo & Stitch Beats Disappointing Ballerina Start To Rule Again

Ballerina had a less-than-ideal start at the box office this weekend, allowing Lilo & Stitch to reign again. The live-action version of the Disney animated film held the top spot for a third straight week as it brought in $32.5 million, down a solid 47% from last weekend’s numbers. It’s a continued road of success for the latest Disney live-action film, putting it at $337.8 million domestic and $772.6 million worldwide against a budget of just $100 million.

At this point, the film is still looking like it will easily cross $400 million and still has a shot at getting close to $1 billion worldwide. It’s a win that Disney needed after Snow White’s failure and ensures that there is still juice left in the live-action remake game as long as audiences respond to the film itself.

Meanwhile, Ballerina came in at $25 million for its domestic opening, which is not where Lionsgate wanted this to be. That puts the Ana de Armas-led John Wick spinoff below the $30 million to $35 million that most were expecting coming into the weekend. It’s the weakest start for a Wick-related movie since the original film opened to $14.4 million back in 2014, before the character was a household name.

Lionsgate is putting their best spin on this, trying to make the case that this is not too shabby for a character never featured in the previous films. And they’re not wrong; spinoffs generally perform lower than their predecessor, especially if it’s not a character we’ve already developed a connection to. Still, it is less than ideal that despite positive reviews (a 76% aggregated critical average on Rotten Tomatoes) and very positive fan response (an A- CinemaScore and 94% RT audience rating), this came in below expectations.

So what happened here? Certainly, the focus on a new character hurt it; the film’s full name is the unwieldy From the World of John Wick: Ballerina and the studio tried to highlight Keanu Reeves’ cameo in marketing, but it didn’t catch the franchise name recognition the way the studio hoped. It must also be noted that despite the positive reviews, there wasn’t a lot of buzz around this.

The film took an unnecessary hit in sentiment when an email came out from Lionsgate noting the “spoiler-free enthusiasm” had an earlier embargo than “critical social sentiment & formal reviews,” giving the notion that the film – well, might not be good. The studio quickly corrected and it’s not clear how much if any damage was done by this, but it did not have the positive early buzz than films with similar critical response have received.

It also didn’t help that the film is up against another male-targeted action film In Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning which is doing solidly (more on that in a moment). Ballerina’s North American audience was 63% male according to PostTrak, with 76% of the audience 25 and over. Those are demos that Final Reckoning was targeting too.

The film has added $26 million overseas from 82 territories, with a couple decent markets to open still in Japan and Italy. That gives it a $51 million worldwide start against a $90 million production budget. The good news is that the positive word of mouth should help it, but it’s looking at perhaps $75 million to $80 million as its upper end on domestic and will struggle to be profitable barring better than expected holds.

Speaking of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, it was down just 45% this weekend to $15 million. That’s exactly what the film needed considering its massive $400 million budget and is on par with Dead Reckoning’s third weekend hold. Final Reckoning is pacing ahead of its predecessor and is doing great overseas with $149.2 million domestically and $450.4 million worldwide. It still has a long way until it breaks into the black though. The stateside total should be a little over $200 million.

Karate Kid: Legends had a bigger slip than hoped for in its sophomore frame. The revival sequel grossed $8.7 million, down 57% from what was already a soft opening last weekend. Legends is not in horrible shape, to be fair; it has $35.4 million domestically and $74 million against a $45 million budget – but it will need to keep its numbers decent for the next couple of weeks and it’s not exactly a hit regardless. It should be able to make it to around $50 million in the US by the time it closes out.

Final Destination: Bloodlines raked in another $6.5 million in its fourth weekend. That’s a drop of just 40%, the lowest in the top 10 this frame. The horror sequel is now at a very impressive $123.7 million stateside and $257.2 million worldwide, putting it in major hit territory against a $50 million budget. $140 million still looks to be its endgame.

Wes Anderson’s latest film hit its wide(ish) release opening at #6 with The Phoenician Scheme, taking in $6.3 million. That’s below the $9.1 million start of Asteroid City in June of 2023, but an improvement over 2021’s The French Dispatch ($2.6 million) and 2018’s Isle of Dogs $5.5 million.

It’s another opening that proves what many know: Anderson is a particular taste of filmmaker who can deliver a reliable mid-single digit opening, but his films’ money is made overseas and on home viewing. Phoenician Scheme scored around the same critical regard as his last two films, hitting a 79% RT critic aggregate (Asteroid City hit 76% and French Dispatch was a 75%), and the word of mouth is also comparable at a 76% and B- CinemaScore.

The film is, as mentioned, doing better overseas; it has $7 million domestically and $18 million worldwide. As of now it looks likely to end with around $20 million in the US and will be profitable against the $30 million budget once all is said and done thanks to overseas and home viewing.

Bring Her Back was off 50% from its opening weekend as expected with $3.5 million. The Philippou Brothers-directed horror film is now at $14.1 million domestically and $15.1 million with just a smattering of overseas territories. It’s likely to close out around $22 million or so in the US against a $4.5 million budget, enough for a healthy profit.

GKIDS’ latest anime offering in theaters was Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye, which opened at $3.1 million. That’s better than the last Dan Da Dan movie, First Encounter which took in $925,000 in September of last year in a very short engagement. It should be able to make it to around $4.5 million in theaters, which will be good enough for the studio.

Sinners was down 45% in its eighth weekend to bring in $2.9 million. The vampire flick from Ryan Coogler is up to $272.6 million domestically and $357.2 million worldwide, a big hit against a $90 million budget. It will finish out at around $280 million.

Marvel’s Thunderbolts* closed out the top 10 with $2.5 million, down 48%. The MCU film now has $186.5 million domestically and $374.6 million worldwide against a $180 million budget, with a final total in the US probably around $195 million.

Next weekend will see a new #1 as the live action How to Train Your Dragon is looking at a post-$70 million start. Meanwhile, Celine Song’s Materialists from A24 should be in the $8 million range.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Lilo & Sitch – $32.5 million ($337.8 million total, $772.6 million WW)
2. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina – $25 million ($25 million total, $51 million WW)
3. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – $15 million ($149.2 million total, $450.4 million WW)
4. Karate Kid: Legends – $8.7 million ($35.4 million total, $74 million WW)
5. Final Destination: Bloodlines – $6.5 million ($123.6 million total, $247.2 million WW)
6. The Phoenician Scheme – $6.3 million ($7 million total, $18 million WW)
7. Bring Her Back – $3.5 million ($14.1 million total, $15.2 million WW)
8. Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye – $3.1 million ($3.1 million total, $
9. Sinners – $2.9 million ($272.6 million total, $357.2 million WW)
10. Thunderbolts* – $2.5 million ($186.5 million total, $374.6 million WW)