from Lionsgate John Wick: Chapter 4 appears to be on the hunt for a hefty $65 million to $70 million in his home theater box office opening, a best franchise and more than enough to kill the competition including leftover Shazam! Anger of the Gods.
The latest installment in the hugely successful action franchise returns Keanu Reeves as the expert assassin nicknamed Baba Yaga.
The movie has a lot going for it: Reeves is as popular as ever, while critics love the picture. The current critic score on Rotten Tomatoes is 95 percent, the best score of all John Wick title (the three previous photos all hovered in the mid-to-high 80 percent range). A challenge: John Wick 4The film’s running time is just under three hours, which means fewer show times.
Directed by Chad Stahelski, the film is packed with the usual mayhem, violence, balletic physicality and morbid humor that have come to define the action franchise. The cast also includes Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Rina Sawayama, Ian McShane and the late Lance Reddick, who passed away earlier this month. The film is produced by Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee and Chad Stahelski.
To date, 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum has the series’ largest domestic opening at $56.8 million, unadjusted for inflation.
John Wick 4 will host previews Thursday night and will play in Imax and other premium formats all weekend, in addition to thousands of regular screens.
International, the movie debuts this weekend in 71 territories worldwide, including the UK, Germany, Australia, France, Italy, Spain and Mexico.
The lucrative Lionsgate franchise has grossed nearly $590 million worldwide. By Sunday, that number should be north of $700 million. John Wick took in a total of $86.1 million; John Wick: Chapter 2 grossed $174.3 million; And John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum reached $328.3 million.
John Wick 4 is a production of Thunder Road Films / 87eleven.