Ana de Armas in “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina.”
Lilo & Stitch is projected to top Ana de Armas’ John Wick spinoff movie Ballerina in its opening weekend at the domestic box office after early forecasts suggested a different outcome for the action crime thriller.
Rated R, Ballerina — formally titled From the World of John Wick: Ballerina — stars Ana de Armas as a vengeful ballerina and trained assassin in a tale that runs parallel to some of the events in the 2019 blockbuster John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Keanu Reeves and other John Wick franchise stars including Ian McShane, Angelica Huston and the late Lance Reddick appear in Ballerina in supporting roles.
Lilo & Stitch, of course, dominated the box office over the recent four-day Memorial Day weekend holiday by earning $182.6 million from 4,410 North American theaters. The live-action remake of the 2002 Disney animated classic has earned $284.2 domestically and $334.4 million internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $618.6 million to date.
In its projections for the June 6-8 box office on Wednesday, Variety is forecasting that Lilo & Stitch will earn somewhere between $30 million to $35 million in North American theaters this weekend, while Ballerina will run a close second with a take of $28 million to $30 million from 3,400 theaters domestically.
Distributed by John Wick franchise studio Lionsgate, Ballerina, directed by Len Wiseman, had a production budget of $90 million before prints and advertising costs, Variety reported.
Variety’s projections are soft in comparison to early forecasts from the likes of Deadline and Box Office Pro. On May 15, Deadline projected that Ballerina would open in the vicinity of $35 million to $40 million in the film’s opening frame, while Box Office Pro on May 16 projected a $35 million to $45 million opening for Ballerina in its weekend box office debut.
On Wednesday, Box Office Pro’s opening weekend projections for Ballerina dropped to a $32 million to $40 million opening frame.
Wes Anderson’s ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Opens Wide Alongside ‘Ballerina’
Writer-director Wes Anderson’s latest offbeat comedy The Phoenician Scheme is expanding to a wider release this weekend following a limited release in theaters on May 30.
The Phoenician Scheme, which held its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, opened in six theaters domestically and earned just over $603,000 in its debut.
The film is also already playing in international markets, where it has earned $7.3 million to date.
Variety projects that The Phoenician Scheme — which will open wide on Friday in 1,500 North American venues — will debut somewhere in the single digits but did not peg a specific number.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2025/06/04/ballerina-box-office-projections-drop-ahead-of-lilo–stitch-showdown/