Lionsgate / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Yes, we think he’s back. Fired off a franchise-best opening weekend at the domestic box office, John Wick: Chapter 4 is eyeing a finish that could stretch past $70 million.
Lionsgate’s action sequel got off to an impressive start with an opening day of $29.4 million across 3,855 locations, grossing that includes $8.9 million in Thursday previews.
The John Wick series has achieved consistent growth that most modern Hollywood franchises can only envy, beginning with a storyline rewritten from the ground up and followed by a series of entries, each one larger than the one before have proved. The gross opening weekend of “Chapter 4” appears to surpass the $56.8 million debut earned by the third installment in the series, 2019’s “Parabellum.”
The first round of box office returns aren’t the only numbers lined up for Keanu Reeves’ vehicle. “Chapter 4” received critical acclaim, earning a series-high approval rating of 92% from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The film was also rated a top franchise “A” by research firm Cinema Score, indicating a resounding enthusiasm among early ticket buyers.
As is usual with blockbuster sequels, the price has gone up too. With a production budget of $100 million, “Chapter 4” is the most expensive “Wick” entry from producers Thunder Road and 87eleven Entertainment to date. But with an opening weekend already set to beat initial estimates and strong word of mouth among fans, the coming weeks are looking bright for Wick.
In John Wick: Chapter 4, Reeves returns as a notorious assassin desperate to free himself from the purview of the quasi-religious, all-powerful High Table. Standing in his way are a host of new enemies, faces from the past and a Frenchman with a penchant for torture. Series newcomers Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Rina Sawayama and Scott Adkins join a cast of returning players including Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and Lance Reddick, who died earlier this month at the age of 60.
The box office charts also show a franchise that has gone in the opposite direction, with one sequel falling short of its predecessor. After “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” tumbled at a not-so-staggering $30 million in its opening weekend, the Warner Bros. and DC Studios film is now facing a crash that could be down more than 70%.
Fury of the Gods is looking to boost its North American gross to around $45 million after the weekend. That would still be less than the $53 million in its opening weekend earned by its 2019 predecessor. There’s little hope that the sequel can match the previous entry’s $140 million finish, let alone justify its own $110 million production budget with ticket sales.
Paramount and Spyglass Media’s Scream VI could end up edging Fury of the Gods into second place. The self-proclaimed slasher “requel” is forecasting gross earnings of $8.8 million for his third weekend and showing staying power with a 49% drop from his last appearance. “Scream VI” has already surpassed its predecessor’s $81 million finish; The sequel now has a good chance of surpassing the $100 million mark.
Also, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Creed III” is in a close race with “Shazam!” and “Scream,” which is forecasting box office sales of around $8 million by its fourth weekend of release. The Michael B. Jordan boxing drama is expected to take its total domestic gross to $140 million through Sunday.
Sony’s sci-fi dinosaur ’65’ appears to round out the top five, forecasting $3.2 million over the weekend to push its domestic gross profit above $27 million.