JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 exploded with a $73.5M gross in its opening weekend, setting a new box office record for the franchise. Lionsgate’s highly successful series began in 2014 when the original JOHN WICK opened over the weekend of 10/24/2014 – 10/26/2014 to a modest gross of $14.4M.
Each subsequent movie has expanded its appeal, with JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 opening to $30.4M from 2/10/2017 – 2/12/2017 followed by JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 with $56.8M from 5/17/2019 – 5/19/2019. The franchise has been equally popular outside of North America, with international grosses of $43M, $82M, and $157M respectively, and the total worldwide cume for all three films hitting $588M.
The R-Rated series has consistently delivered exactly what fans expect, non-stop action and high body counts. CHAPTER 4 continues the theme, with Keanu Reeves staring once again in the title role, an assassin whom no one can manage to kill. Many claims that it is the best version so far, with critics giving an exceptional 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and moviegoers one-upping that to a 96% audience score. Lionsgate spent $100M to produce CHAPTER 4, and after this weekend’s success, the project is certain to be highly profitable for its studio. As long as Keanu Reeves continues to headline, there will certainly be new chapters in the years to come.
SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS finished in a far-distant second place with a gross of $9.7M. The DC universe superhero sequel is headed in the wrong direction, with a drop of 68% from its underwhelming opening last weekend. SHAZAM 2 continues to disappoint, with its opening weekend coming in at only 57% compared with the first three days of the original. Weekend #2 came in at only 40% of the second weekend of SHAZAM. Any chance of justifying more SHAZAM! movies are fading fast.
SCREAM VI finished in third place with $8.4M in ticket sales, and a 17-day total gross of $90M. Rounding out a weekend of sequels, CREED III finished in fourth place by adding $8.37M to its impressive performance over its first three weeks. CREED III’s $141M cume has now set the box office record for the nine films in the ROCKY/CREED series.
The only non-sequel to crack the top five was 65, which earned $3.3M in its third weekend. We’d like to say that #5 for the Sci-Fi film was acceptable, but the actual dollar amount was anemic and earnings to date have been only $27.8M on a production budget of $45M.
The total box office for all movies in theatres this weekend was $117.4M, which compares to $83.4M for the same weekend last year when LOST CITY starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum opened to $30M.
WHERE ARE WE AS OF 3/23
After eleven weeks, the 2023 box office stands at 128% compared with those same weeks in 2022 and 75% in comparison to 2019.