Ana De Armas' Ballerina Now Has Serious Competition To Be 2025's Best John Wick Replacement (2024)

Although Ana De Armas’s Ballerina sounds like an exciting John Wick replacement, Nobody 2 will give the action movie a run for its money. When John Wick was released in 2014, few could have predicted just how influential director Chad Stahelski’s action thriller would become. The John Wick series only grew more financially successful with each new installment, and its critical reception followed suit. Where John Wick was a $20 million action movie that earned an impressive $80 million upon release, 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4 cost $100 million and made a staggering $440 million.

In broader terms, the John Wick franchise went from a fun Keanu Reeves vehicle to a genuine pop culture phenomenon. The Simpsons and Bob’s Burgers both parodied the series, while the movie’s creators parlayed their success into more blockbuster projects. John Wick’s uncredited co-director David Leitch went on to make Hobbs & Shaw, Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and The Fall Guy and produced 2021’s Kate, while Stahelski penned Netflix’s 2022 action comedy horror hybrid Day Shift. Leitch also produced 2021’s Nobody, an inventive action comedy that cast unlikely action hero Bob Odenkirk as its John Wick stand-in.

Nobody 2 Will Challenge Ballerina For 2025's Best John Wick-Esque Action Movie

Bob Odenkirk’s Action Sequel Will Rival Ana De Armas’ Thriller

The massive critical and commercial success of John Wick: Chapter 4 adds a great level of excitement to the franchise's upcoming Ana De Armas spinoff Ballerina. Set in the franchise’s universe, the John Wick spinoff Ballerina stars De Armas as a ballerina who was trained to become a deadly assassin in her childhood. Although linked to the franchise, Ballerina will see director Len Wiseman attempt to expand the franchise without blockbuster veteran Reeves at its center. While No Time To Die proved Ana De Armas could be an action icon, her recent outings The Gray Man and Ghosted earned negative reviews.

To make matters more difficult, the announcement of Nobody 2 proves that Ballerina won’t be the only John Wick-esque action movie landing on screens in 2025. Nobody 2 is scheduled for release on August 15, 2025. The original Nobody saw Odenkirk's mild-mannered suburban everyman Hutch reveal his secret past as a government assassin after a home invasion. A string of increasingly violent battles with the Russian mafia followed until Hutch eventually wiped out his enemies and returned to civilian life. Nobody 2’s story will likely pick up after Nobody's ending, wherein Hutch receives word of new trouble.

Nobody 2's New Director Makes The Bob Odenkirk Sequel Even More Exciting

Timo Tjahjanto Directed 2018’s Bruising Iko Uwais Thriller The Night Comes for Us

Thanks to Ballerina’s combination of De Armas’ star power and the John Wick brand, it could have the edge on a Nobody sequel when competing for the title of 2025's best shoot 'em up movie. However, Nobody 2’s director means the sequel could be a rare follow-up that manages to outdo the original movie. Director Timo Tjahjanto will direct Nobody 2, and action movie obsessives will know just how enticing this makes the sequel’s prospects. Tjahjanto is best known for 2018’s The Night Comes for Us, which starred The Raid’s Iko Uwais in a rare villainous role.

The Night Comes for Us chronicled a former gang member’s attempts to ferry a young girl to safety through the criminal underworld, but this plot was mostly an excuse for some of the grisliest and most impressive action sequences in recent cinema history. While Ballerina may redeem Ana De Armas’ action streak, Nobody 2 could prove to be one of Hollywood’s most impressive action movies in some time, judging by its director’s pedigree. The Night Comes for Us even earned praise from Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld, who said he would love to see Tjahjanto work on Deadpool 3.

Ballerina vs. Nobody: Which Movie Will Be Bigger?

Nobody 2 and Ballerina’s Duel Will Challenge Ana De Armas’ Box Office Appeal

Nobody 2 has the potential to be an incredibly impressive action movie, but this might not be enough to see the sequel beat Ballerina at the box office. The original Nobody earned $57 million upon release, but the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on cinemas meant that these earnings were potentially misleading. That said, Stahelski’s franchise has proven to be a box office powerhouse in recent years, and Ballerina’s connection to the John Wick movies could make the spinoff a massive hit.

Ultimately, Ballerina and Nobody 2’s box office battle rests on the star power of Ana De Armas. The franchise earned plenty of praise for its inventive visual style and its supporting cast, but Keanu Reeves has always been a reliable hero in the John Wick movies. De Armas has headlined both major flops and big hits, so her central role in Ballerina will test her popularity. In contrast, although Odenkirk is a deservedly celebrated character actor, Nobody 2’s central appeal is more likely to rest on its action sequences compared to Ballerina’s continuation of the John Wick saga.

Ballerina

Action

Thriller

Director

Len Wiseman

Release Date

June 7, 2024

Studio(s)

Summit Entertainment , Thunder Road Films , 87Eleven Productions

Writers

Shay Hatten , Emerald Fennell

Cast

Ana De Armas , Anjelica Huston , Gabriel Byrne , Lance Reddick , Catalina Sandino Moreno , Norman Reedus , Ian McShane , Keanu Reeves

Franchise(s)

John Wick