John Wick: Chapter 4 is currently projected to have the best opening weekend of the entire franchise. The saga began with the 2014 action-thriller John Wick, which starred Keanu Reeves in the title role as an ex-hitman who seeks revenge when a crime syndicate kills his dog and destroys his car. The following two films, 2017’s John Wick: Chapter 2 and 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, expanded the intricately detailed world of assassins even more, which will also eventually lead to the upcoming spinoff film The Ballerina starring Ana de Armas and the television series The Continental.
Per Deadline, the early projections for the opening weekend of John Wick: Chapter 4 show the sequel pulling in a box office gross between $60 and $70 million, which would be the strongest opening of the entire franchise. Considering the original film was something of a sleeper hit, only opening at $14.4 million, the sequel opening higher makes sense. However, John Wick: Chapter 4 even blows Chapter 2 ($30.4 million) and Chapter 3 ($56.8 million) out of the water.
March’s Box Office Proves That Movie Theaters Aren’t Dead
So far, each of the John Wick movies has doubled or nearly doubled the previous film’s total box office take. Given those projections, it’s entirely possible that Chapter 4 could be on its way toward earning something in the realm of $250 million by the end of its run. While that remains to be seen, these projections for John Wick: Chapter 4 reveal that theaters are continuing to show strong signs of recovery after struggling to come back from their 2020 shutdown.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is just one of the major franchise efforts that are pulling in the big bucks this month. Already in the first weekend of March, Creed III is projected to have the strongest opening of any of the Creed films. On the following weekend, Scream 6 is poised to pull off the same feat, crushing the opening box office record of the previous five Scream films.
All three franchise efforts handily besting their pre-pandemic counterparts throughout the month would be a tremendous sign of box office recovery. The only weekend in that run between Creed III and John Wick: Chapter 4 that hasn’t been confirmed to be a blowout is March 17, which sees the release of the Adam Driver sci-fi thriller 65 and the superhero sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The DC Universe’s public struggle to right the ship might lead to a disappointing weekend for Shazam!, but if it performs well it would be even more concrete proof that Hollywood is getting back on its feet.
Source: Deadline
