“John Wick: Chapter 4” opened to $73.5 million, dominating the box office. The fourth Lionsgate action film, starring Keanu Reeves as a legendary assassin, started well thanks to excellent reviews and word-of-mouth.
Ticket sales are one of the few original properties to increase and improve. The original “John Wick” premiered to $14 million in 2014, its sequel “John Wick:
Chapter 2” to $30.4 million in 2017, and the third picture “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” to $56.8 million in 2019. "John Wick: Chapter 4" grossed $64 million internationally, debuting at No. 1 in all 71 markets.
For a total of $137.5 million. It cost almost $100 million to make, the most in the series. But ticket sales are already justifying the extra coinage.
“This is a superb opening,” says Franchise Entertainment Research CEO David A. Gross. “Each ‘John Wick’ sequel has grown. Outstanding.” At two hours and 49 minutes, moviegoers loved the R-rated “John Wick:
Chapter 4,” which got a “A” CinemaScore. The film's opening weekend audience was 69% male and 70% over 25.
Only nine franchises in the past 40 years have established opening weekend records with their fourth appearance, according to Lionsgate.
Only five of those nine properties have improved their box office totals. The original "John Wick" grossed $86.1 million but was a sleeper hit on home entertainment, while the sequel grossed $174.3 million. “Parabellum,” the highest-grossing film, grossed $328.3 million worldwide.
“The ‘John Wick’ brand is an anomaly,” says Lionsgate motion picture group president Joe Drake. The outcomes speak for themselves. Expect a big multiple.”
The latest “John Wick,” directed by Chad Stahelski, features the hitman as he fights the High Table. Lionsgate has been mum regarding a fifth “John Wick” film. But Reeves and other cast members will return for “Ballerina,” a spinoff starring Ana de Armas.