‘Peacemaker’ Actor Takes Aim at ‘John Wick’ Spin-off ‘Ballerina’ After Box Office Flop

It’s far from uncommon to see a movie earn strong reviews from critics and fans, yet underperform at the box office. This was the case for the John Wick spin-off Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas. While fans specifically offered glowing reviews of the movie, it still failed to make much noise at the box office.

Although the film, officially titled From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, was considered a “flop” at the box office, de Armas’ performance was far from the reason. Even still, it didn’t stop Peacemaker actor Frank Grillo from taking aim at the actress.

Ana de Armas Hit With Underhanded Criticism From ‘Peacemaker’ Actor Frank Grillo

In a bit of a strange comment during a recent interview with the Peacemaker cast, Grillo, who plays Rick Flag Sr., decided to praise his castmate, Jennifer Holland, by taking aim at de Armas and Ballerina.

Grillo was speaking with CBR when his comments about Holland resulted in a stray going directly at the movie’s star.

“By the way, she’s a legit badass. I mean, if she was in Ballerina it would have been a successful movie. I mean, she is a killer,” Grillo stated.

Almost immediately after the comment, a response from a castmate of “Frank!” can be heard. The rest of the cast playfully jabbed Grillo after his statement, and then the interview continued.

‘Ballerina’ Drew Rave Reviews From Fans, but the Box Office Numbers Don’t Tell the Story

While Ballerina started off at the box office by pulling in roughly $25 million domestically, that landed below its initial tracking of around $35 million. It was an uphill climb from there, and the movie never truly gained much momentum.

The John Wick spin-off finished with a worldwide total of $132 million, with $74 million internationally and $58 million domestically, per Box Office Mojo. The problem was that it had a production budget that was estimated at around $90 million and a domestic marketing budget of $45 million, according to Deadline.

The box office struggle was highlighted more when Lionsgate posted a $94 million net loss in its most recent quarter, as Variety highlighted. However, the company released the Apple TV+ series The Studio this quarter, which led to its television side doubling profits. This factor put even more of a spotlight on its two film releases, Ballerina and Another Simple Favor.

Now, where the strange part comes in is when you look at Ballerina’s glowing reviews, especially from fans.

The movie is “certified fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes and boasts an impressive 92 percent rating on the fan-focused Popcornmeter, featuring more than 5,000 verified reviews. Critics also gave it high marks, as Ballerina scored a 76 percent score on that side, based on 299 reviews.

Although that’s just one review site, it’s the largest sample size, and the fan reviews echo what most said on social media in the days and weeks following Ballerina’s release date of June 6.

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