John Wick: Chapter 4 breaks franchise record with $98m ticket sales in North America

LOS ANGELES – A small Hollywood studio, one that has struggled to remain relevant in a fast-changing film business, delivered a master class in movie franchise management over the weekend.

The studio, Lionsgate, roared back to life at the box office with the blood-soaked

John Wick: Chapter 4,

which took in roughly US$73.5 million (S$98 million) at North American theatres, easily enough for first place.

Film series almost always fall apart by their fourth instalments, if they even make it that far.

But the John Wick franchise, built around a weary assassin played by Canadian actor Keanu Reeves, has now shown dramatic growth with each consecutive sequel, something no action-thriller property has done before, according to analysts. The Fast And Furious (2001 to present) franchise stumbled with the third chapter, leading to a creative overhaul.

“This character is so well-established and well-liked now, it could continue indefinitely if treated right,” said Mr David Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter on box-office numbers.

The first John Wick arrived to US$14 million in ticket sales in 2014 and ended its North American run with US$43 million. In 2017, John Wick: Chapter 2 sold US$30 million over its first three days and went on to generate US$92 million. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrived to US$57 million in 2019 and grossed US$171 million.

The series outranks the Die Hard (1988 to 2013) and Lethal Weapon (1987 to present) franchises in chapter-to-chapter growth.

Both of those 1980s-era properties crescendoed over four films, with initial ticket sales for each new offering exceeding the last. But neither soared in popularity from sequel to sequel to the same degree as John Wick.

Chad Stahelski – a former stunt double for Reeves – has directed all four movies, backed by a producing team led by film producer Basil Iwanyk.

They have guided the series to bigger budgets – the latest chapter cost US$90 million to produce, up from US$20 million for the first – while maintaining heart; each instalment has charmed critics.

John Wick: Chapter 4, like its predecessors, was powered by male moviegoers. Lionsgate estimated that 69 per cent of ticket buyers were male, with 48 per cent of those older than 25. The film took in another US$64 million in overseas releases.

In second place for the weekend, Shazam: Fury Of The Gods (Warner Bros) collected about US$9.7 million for a lukewarm two-week total of US$46 million. Scream VI (Paramount) sold roughly US$8.4 million in tickets for a three-week total of about US$90 million.

In 2021 and 2022, Lionsgate released a total of four films in cinemas. Two were colossal flops. One hit, Knives Out (2019), had its expensive sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), scooped up by Netflix.

The studio had in some ways had become an industry afterthought, discussed in Hollywood as the next to fall victim to a consolidating entertainment industry.

But a turnaround effort led by Mr Joe Drake, Lionsgate’s movie chairman, may be starting to show results.

Jesus Revolution, released by Lionsgate in February, sold almost US$50 million in tickets. It cost US$15 million to make.

In November, the studio will revive The Hunger Games (2012 to present) franchise with a prequel, The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes.

It has Saw (2004 to present) and The Expendables (2010 to present) sequels on the way, and an adaptation of American writer Judy Blume’s 1970 novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

There is also more John Wick in the works, including a film spin-off, Ballerina, staring Cuban-Spanish actress Ana de Armas, and a television series, The Continental, coming to streaming services Peacock and Prime Video.

On a conference call with analysts, Mr Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate’s chief executive, described the studio’s coming film projects as “the strongest slate we’ve had for many, many, many years”. NYTIMES