Prime Video’s Upcoming Action Thriller Redeems Two Underrated Flops At The Same Time

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As a huge action movie fan, I’m really excited about the new Prime Video thriller, Pretty Lethal. It feels like it could finally give two previously overlooked films – Green Room and From the World of John Wick: Ballerina – the recognition they deserve. Ever since John Wick became such a massive hit, everyone’s been looking for the next big action franchise, and I’m hoping Pretty Lethal might just be it.

Several recent action films have clearly taken inspiration from John Wick. 2017’s Atomic Blonde flipped the original concept with a female lead and was directed by one of John Wick’s producers. Bullet Train (2022) brought the action to a fast-moving train, and 2021’s Nobody combined the intensity of John Wick with the story of an ordinary man turning to dark deeds, much like Breaking Bad. In fact, Nobody even featured Bob Odenkirk, a familiar face from Breaking Bad.

Leitch was also the producer of films like Love Hurts, Kate (2021), and Violent Night. These movies, similar to the John Wick series, featured stylish, over-the-top action with skilled, almost unbelievably capable characters, but each had its own unique story and lead. Other filmmakers tried to replicate this successful formula with action films like Novocaine and The Beekeeper.

Pretty Lethal Pits A Ballet Troupe Against Mobsters In A Brutal Bloody Battle

Courtesy of Amazon MGM

Given the movie’s concept, it’s not surprising to see Leitch credited as a producer on the upcoming Prime Video action thriller, Pretty Lethal. The film’s trailer reveals a unique premise: director Vicky Jewson sets a team of professional ballerinas against a dangerous group of mobsters, led by Uma Thurman’s character, Devora Kasimer, who is a former ballerina herself.

The movie boasts a cast of rising stars, led by Lana Condor, known from the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before films, as Princess. Millicent Simmonds, who gained fame in the A Quiet Place movies, plays Chloe. Avantika, from Tarot, stars as Grace, and Maddie Ziegler, a well-known face from Dance Moms, plays Bones.

A group known for their harsh criticism of each other suddenly face a bigger problem when their bus breaks down, leaving them stranded in a creepy, old building filled with traps. They quickly realize someone deliberately lured them there – a dramatic villain named Thurman Kasimer, and no one knows why he has a connection to them.

The movie features a brutal fight where the main characters, all trained ballet dancers, use their skills as weapons against a group of criminals. They hide razor blades in their ballet shoes and transform graceful pirouettes into dangerous kicks. This unusual idea might remind you of other unsuccessful films, as it comes from the producer of Atomic Blonde and Bullet Train and combines elements of two previously failed concepts.

Pretty Lethal’s Premise Mixes Green Room With Ballerina

Image courtesy of Everett Collection

Scheduled for release in 2025, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina was designed to launch Ana de Armas into leading-role stardom. Directed by Len Wiseman, the film features de Armas as Eve Macarro, a ballerina who trains to become an assassin. She seeks revenge for her father’s murder and aims to dismantle the dangerous global criminal organization responsible.

Despite positive reviews, the movie Ballerina didn’t do well in theaters. While it earned $137 million with a $90 million production cost, this was considered a letdown for a big-budget film, especially following the huge success of the John Wick movies. Each John Wick film had made more money than the last, which is unusual in the movie industry.

While the disappointing performance of Ballerina was a shame, the box office failure of 2015’s Green Room was truly unfortunate. The film told a harsh and unrelenting story about a punk band who find themselves trapped in a bar full of neo-Nazis after a concert.

The band immediately feels uneasy playing at the bar, especially after realizing who the owners and customers are. Things quickly escalate when the bassist finds a dead body in the green room. The neo-Nazis running the place won’t let them leave, as they’ve witnessed a murder, leading to a brutal and desperate fight to survive.

While not an enjoyable watch, Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room is a remarkably tense and well-crafted thriller set in a single location. The film’s excellent pacing and strong performances from a talented cast – including Joe Cole, Patrick Stewart, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, and the late Anton Yelchin – make it a standout. Tragically, Green Room was Anton Yelchin’s final film, released shortly before his death in 2016.

Green Room And Ballerina Both Deserved To Do Better At The Box Office

The movie Pretty Lethal shares a lot with Ballerina, both featuring dancers who use their skills to take down criminals. It also has similarities to Green Room, as it involves a group of performers stranded in a secluded place with dangerous villains after arriving for a show.

Thankfully, if the new film Pretty Lethal does well, it might encourage people to discover two excellent but overlooked movies. While Green Room cost much less to make than Ballerina, it’s especially disappointing that it couldn’t even earn back its $5 million production cost.

Though Green Room and Ballerina appear quite different, they’re both intense, overlooked action movies that deserve more attention. Now, with the release of Pretty Lethal, which combines elements from both films, these two thrillers might finally find the wider audience they deserve.

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2026-02-28 22:44