For a series that’s ostensibly about brutal, bloody vengeance and an increasingly inscrutable underworld of assassins and hoteliers, part of the magic of the John Wick movies is how quietly personal they are for star Keanu Reeves and series director Chad Stahelski. Wick, and his inability to leave his life as a killer behind, is essentially a metaphor for Reeves’ career, and the movies’ use of well-choreographed action scenes is a tribute to Stahelski’s history as a stunt performer (specifically Reeves’ stunt performer on the Matrix movies). So it would’ve been completely understandable — predictable and forgivable, even — if the series’ first major spin-off was a total disaster, but Len Wiseman’s From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is borderline miraculous for how it managed to avoid that fate.

Ballerina, which stars Ana de Armas as an assassin-in-training who briefly crosses paths with John Wick while on her own quest for vengeance, didn’t make a John Wick-level splash at the box office when it was in theaters earlier this year, but it was a major player on the VOD charts until recently. Now it’s the top performer on Starz according to FlixPatrol, handily beating lower-profile movies on the streamer like McVeigh, Pretty Thing, and Flight Risk. This is a well-deserved redemption for Ballerina, and it will hopefully help solidify the film’s legacy (and the potential of future John Wick spin-offs) in the future.

Is ‘John Wick’ Spin-Off ‘Ballerina’ a Secret Masterpiece?

Image via Lionsgate

Ballerina has a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is lower than any of the main Wick movies, but the point is that it’s better than it has any right to be, not that it’s better than any of the other movies. And the reason it’s so surprisingly good is that it’s actually a smarter approach to the material than simply “a different bankable star does John Wick stuff.” The movie (featuring series regulars Ian McShane and Lance Reddick, plus newcomer Norman Reedus) knows that it can’t live up to exactly what John Wick does and that it will just reflect poorly on Ballerina if it tries too hard to do that, so it makes a few clever choices to sidestep any direct and unfavorable comparisons between it and the main series.

Early on, when Ana de Armas’ Eve is in training to become an assassin, an instructor explains to her that she’ll never be able to beat the male opponent she’s sparring against because he’s bigger and stronger than she is. In order to win, she has to fight smarter, which could be read as the movie’s philosophy about how it can compete against a regular John Wick movie — which is to say that it can’t compete unless it does things its own way. Later on, Eve goes to an arms dealer for what appears to be a clichéd “getting geared up” scene that initially evokes the far superior “Sommelier” scene in John Wick: Chapter 2, but then it quickly goes off in a different direction and becomes one of Ballerina’s funniest, most memorable action sequences.

Ballerina isn’t proof that just anyone can make a John Wick movie, because countless pretenders (Hotel Artemis, Gunpowder Milkshake, Kate) have tried and failed. It is, however, a lesson on how to make a John Wick-style movie work, which is by playing to your strengths rather than simply emulating what Reeves and Stahelski have spent their entire careers preparing for. Also, it helps that John Wick himself shows up a few times.

Release Date

June 6, 2025

Runtime

125 minutes

Director

Len Wiseman

The film’s box-office record-breaking news drip-drop hasn’t yet stopped, but Jurassic World Rebirth is already breaking charts on digital. The latest film in the dinosaur saga is trending on Amazon and iTunes at the time of writing, just a day after its release on digital, all while it stands as the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year.

The sci-fi dinosaur epic has claimed the #1 spot on iTunes Top 10 in the United States and is ranking in multiple more countries already. The Scarlett Johansson-starrer is not just smashing charts in the U.S. but also sits at #1 on Amazon’s Top 10 in Canada at the time of writing. Therefore, it’s safe to say that the dino blockbuster has once again revived Universal’s Jurassic Park franchise and has so far grossed over $768 million. The film was released earlier last month on July 2, and it opened with a strong global haul of $322 million. Though critics responded with mixed reviews, evident with a 51% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, the audience welcomed the film with far more enthusiasm. Viewers gave it a solid 71% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a steady 6.2 rating on IMDb.

Due to the film’s nostalgic appeal and word-of-mouth buzz, Rebirth even managed to outperform two major superhero titles, Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, at the box office. Jurassic World Rebirth is directed by Gareth Edwards and penned by Jurassic Park original writer David Koepp. The film has undoubtedly pushed the franchise forward with a darker theme, new hybrid species, and a star-studded cast that includes Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend, and Ed Skrein. While the film had its digital release on August 5, Rebirth is now all set for its 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD release, slated for September 9.

‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Is Set 5 Years After Chris Pratt’s ‘Dominion’

While Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and the previous cast ensemble are absent from Rebirth, the franchise evolves with a bold new direction in this installment. Per the synopsis, the film is set five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, and introduces Zora Bennett (Johansson), a covert operations expert leading a high-stakes mission to extract genetic material from the three largest dinosaurs ever engineered. But what begins as a tactical recovery op spirals into chaos when Zora’s team crosses paths with a civilian family stranded by a boating accident. Now trapped together on a remote island, they uncover a dark secret hidden for decades — a revelation that redefines the legacy of InGen and the true extent of genetic experimentation.

It’s kind of a nice synergized combination of The Gorge meets Jurassic Park. And this new angle is exactly what has aided the word-of-mouth buzz for the film — the fact that everybody’s favorite dino franchise is still capable of bringing more to the table.

Jurassic World Rebirth is now available to rent or buy on digital. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.