No, it won’t point the finger at the box office this weekend for not opening a franchise film.
That’s because Lionsgate/Thunder Road Films/87 Eleven’s John Wick: Chapter 4 is set to not only reinvigorate a tentpole-heavy springtime season, but will also celebrate a franchise-record $115 million in worldwide box office.
Broken down, that’s $65 million to $70 million in the US and Canada and another $45 million abroad.
There’s a palpable energy in the air for what’s being heralded as Keanu Reeves’ swan song on the series, which comes after back-to-back premieres for Chapter 4, including a surprise screening at SXSW last week and last night’s Los Angeles premiere. All of this has resulted in the highest-rated John Wick film of all time, certified 93% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
(LR) Lance Reddick and Ian McShane in “John Wick: Chapter 4”
Given the shocking death of Lance Reddick, who plays the Continental Hotel concierge Charon in all four John Wick films, it wouldn’t be surprising if even more fans found their way to the cinema to see one of his theatrical finales.
The fourth row is booked in 3,800 cinemas, of which 1,675 in Imax, premium large format and motion-optimized seating (Dbox, 4DX, MX4D). US previews begin Thursday at 3 p.m.
The final film, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, grossed $5.9 million as of Thursday, bringing it to an opening-day $22.6 million and a record domestic franchise of $56.8 million in May 2019. The Threequel finished at $171 million domestically, $328.3 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing rate in a $588.7 million-grossing franchise.
The wonderful thing about this R-rated Keanu Reeves series, which sees the actor reuniting with his Matrix co-star Laurence Fishburne, has always been how it started small in theaters ($43 million domestic, $86 million WW) and thanks to that, a great life mushroomed in its home entertainment showcase into a box office giant. The last time we saw this was probably Austin Powers from New Line.
Directed by Chad Stahelski, Fourthquel resonates best with older men and women and black moviegoers. John Wick 3 attracted 45% males over 25, 29% females over 25 and males under 25 with 18%. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum had net income after all home entertainment windows of $89 million on $75 million in production costs, $45 million in foreign sales and $48 million in marketing expenses.
Internationally, John Wick: Chapter 4 debuts in 71 countries worldwide including the UK, Germany, Australia, France, Italy, Spain and Mexico. For comparison, 65 territories opened Parabellum Day-and-Date with the US. Russia was one of the top opens for the threequel offshore at $3.8m (unadjusted for inflation) and closed at $7.6m. Parabellum didn’t have Germany, France, and Spain in its opening weekend, although those important areas are included here in the first frame of Chapter 4. Chapter 3’s international opening weekend cost $36.9M and $93.75M WW, a previous record worldwide launch.
Florence Pugh in “A Good Man” MGM
Also this frame, the second US-Canada weekend for New Line’s Shazam: Fury of the Gods, sees industry estimates drop roughly 60% for $12 million in revenue. Monday cost $1.7 million, down 77% from Sunday’s $7.4 million.
MGM/United Artists Releasing also opens the R-rated title of Zach Braff A Good Person starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman in 530 theaters. Written by Braff, A Good Person follows Allison as her life falls apart after her involvement in a fatal accident.