‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ tops box office with franchise-record debut

Keanu Reeves landed another hit at the box office with “John Wick: Chapter 4.”

Studio estimates revealed the neo-noir thriller earned $73.5 million, a franchise-best for the saga about a hitman on a vengeful quest.

In addition to its domestic haul, the film brought in another $64 million internationally for a global tally of $137.5 million at the box office.

“John Wick” first premiered in 2014, and earned $14 million on its opening weekend. Each new “Wick” flick has steadily outperformed on its debut weekend.

In 2017, “John Wick: Chapter 2,” raked in $30.4 million, while the third installment, “Parabellum,” debuted with $56.8 million.

“When you make a fourth in an action franchise, you have to expect it to go down. That is the nature of these franchises,” said Joe Drake, chairman of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. “But we kept seeing signals and it was wonderful to see the movie they delivered. We saw the audience wanting more.”

The Chad Stahelski-directed series also has a few spinoffs in the works.

Ana de Armas and “The Matrix” actor have shot “Ballerina,” while a miniseries called “The Continental” is in the works with Mel Gibson at Peacock.

“Chad and Keanu have created this world and that world continues to expand. I don’t know what all the edges of that world are, still,” Drake said. “As best they can, they’ll continue to try to seduce Keanu to come back and do things. He gets beat up in these shows. He really does. And at the end he’s like, ‘I’m not doing it anymore.’ Then you watch him sit in the theater and feel that audience.”

“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” came in second place at the box office with $9.7 million, followed by “Scream VI” at $8.4 million. “Avatar: The Way of Water” still earned $1.4 million in the 10th position.

In addition to Keanu, “Chapter 4” also stars Laurence Fishburne, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Ian McShane, Shamier Anderson, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Lance Reddick in one of his final roles.

Source: foxnews.com