Predator: Badlands Overtakes 2025 Movie From a Beloved $1.1 Billion Action Franchise at the Box Office

In a short period of time, Predator: Badlands has proven to be one of the few bright spots in what’s been a lackluster fall so far at the box office. Greatly exceeding its modest projections, the latest Predator installment broke records during its opening weekend and has kept going strong since that impressive debut. Badlands is already the highest-grossing mainline Predator movie at the domestic box office (it still has some work to do to catch the first Alien vs. Predator), and it’s making its way up the worldwide charts as well. After just a couple of weeks in theaters, Badlands has passed this year’s addition to one of the generation’s defining action franchises.

As of this writing, Predator: Badlands has grossed $138.5 million globally (per Box Office Mojo). That figure eclipses the $137.2 million Ballerina: From the World of John Wick brought in over the summer. Badlands is also just a few million shy of surpassing Tron: Ares to make its way into the top 25 of the year so far.

Why Predator: Badlands Beat Ballerina at the Box Office

Since its debut over a decade ago, the John Wick series has been one of the biggest successes in the film industry. Each mainline installment grossed more than its predecessor, with John Wick: Chapter 4 topping out at $447.1 million at the worldwide box office. That gave Lionsgate the confidence to move forward with a spinoff, but the franchise’s hot streak stopped there. Ballerina became the first John Wick to disappoint at the box office, losing nearly $100 million. Though Ballerina earned largely positive reviews (75% on Rotten Tomatoes), the word of mouth wasn’t as enthusiastic as the previous films, which hurt the film’s box office prospects. After opening in second during its debut, Ballerina slid down the charts as its run went on.

In contrast, reception for Predator: Badlands was much stronger (86% on Rotten Tomatoes), with many people praising it for being a fun and interesting expansion of the franchise mythos. It was also the first new theatrical Predator release since the IP experienced a resurgence thanks to streaming hits Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers, making it seem like more of an event for fans. John Wick 4 had such a definitive ending that casual viewers might have seen that as a good place to check out and stop following the series so closely. There wasn’t a ton of interest in a John Wick movie that didn’t have much John Wick in it, but Predator fans were excited to finally see a Yautja take center stage.

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It’s also important to note that Predator: Badlands was able to take advantage of a very weak theatrical marketplace, coming out on the heels of one of the worst Octobers in recent memory. It didn’t face much in the way of competition and had a clear path to the top. Ballerina debuted in the middle of the summer movie season, which is typically a more crowded time of year. It tried to be a counterprogramming option for older action fans, but got lost in a sea of high-profile releases like How to Train Your Dragon, 28 Years Later, and F1. Ballerina might have had a better chance to leave a dent at the box office if it came out during a different window.

This year, both Predator and John Wick were riding high, and now the franchises are in very different places. Achieving success so early, Predator: Badlands will likely open the door for Trachtenberg to develop more follow-ups and continue to bring creative ideas to the table. Lionsgate remains invested in the John Wick business, announcing John Wick 5 (with Keanu Reeves returning) during CinemaCon this year, but it remains to be seen if the performance of Ballerina has any impact on other planned spinoffs. In development is a movie about Donnie Yen’s fan-favorite character Caine, though that doesn’t have a release date yet. Ballerina bombing could influence what projects Lionsgate signs off on.

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