Movie studios are always looking for means to reach their audience wherever they are, and Lionsgate is experimenting with a new delivery method to getting people to see its “John Wick” spinoff “Ballerina,” by selling movie tickets to the film via TikTok.
In a move that Lionsgate is positioning as the first such example of it, moviegoers in the U.S. can purchase a ticket to see “Ballerina” directly through the TikTok Shop. It’s a neat enough idea that it’s surprising no one has tried it before.
Granted, Lionsgate isn’t circumnavigating Fandango or other ticketing services with this move. For anyone watching the livestream of the “Ballerina” premiere, which is taking place now in London, those viewers will be able to directly within the app visit the TikTok Shop and buy a package of merch tied to the film. With that purchase, you’ll get a physical ticket that has a Fandango movie code on it that’s redeemable for a showtime you want.
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Included with the movie ticket is a collectible Continental Hotel coin and a poster exclusive to Fandango. You also can’t buy the movie ticket on its own without the additional collectible merch. The price of the package is $34.99, which more than covers the average cost of a ticket regardless of what region you’re in.
But while this may not be a direct-to-consumer breakthrough necessarily today, it’s an example of how studios are trying to reach fans more directly, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Lionsgate or another studio aims to offer similar packages for other movies down the road.
“Ballerina” stars Ana de Armas and is a spinoff action film that takes place during the events of the third “John Wick” movie, “Parabellum.” The film also stars Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, with Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves, and it follows de Armas as Eve Macarro, who is beginning her own training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.
The film is directed by Len Wiseman and written by Shay Hatten based on characters by Derek Kolstad. the film is produced by Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, and Chad Stahelski. It opens wide in theaters June 6.
