John Wick is back and better than ever in “John Wick: Chapter 4,” the latest installment of the popular action franchise. Lionsgate’s fourth entry opened with $8.9 million in previews at the domestic box office and is expected to break the franchise’s opening weekend record with a projected bow between $65 million and $70 million.
Interestingly, each of the previous John Wick films has exceeded its opening weekend box office gross, with the original “John Wick” starting with $14 million in 2014, followed by “John Wick: Chapter 2” in 2017 with $30.4 million, and “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” in 2019 with $56.8 million. The Thursday preview totals have also steadily grown with each new film’s release.
“John Wick: Chapter 4” has the highest production budget of the series, with a cost of over $100 million. However, it is projected to finish with the highest total gross as well. The previous installment, “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” concluded with $328.3 million globally, while “John Wick: Chapter 2” accumulated $174.3 million, and the original “John Wick” earned $86.1 million.
As the only significant release in theaters this weekend, “John Wick 4” is predicted to outperform last week’s box office champion, “Shazam: Fury of the Gods.” In the newest movie, Keanu Reeves reprises his role as the master assassin, tasked with defeating the High Table crime syndicate for good. Along the way, he battles the blind swordsman Caine, played by Donnie Yen, and the mysterious tracker Mr. Nobody, portrayed by Shamier Anderson.
Together with returning performers Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, and Lance Reddick, who unfortunately passed away last week at the age of 60, Rina Sawayama and Hiroyuki Sanada also enter the “John Wick” universe.
Prior to the film’s debut, Reeves and director Chad Stahelski paid tribute to Reddick. Remembering his fellow actor, Reeves said at the Los Angeles Premiere:
“Lance is a people person, a special artist, a gentleman of grace and dignity, It’s just really something special, every time he stepped on set, to watch the passion he had for his work. It’s really easy to work with him.”
“I had Lance in my life almost 10 years,” Stahelski said. “Although that was done over the course of four films, we’ve worked together on other things. I just got to be happy and be proud of the fact that I got to spend so much time with him. We’re going to miss him.”