John Wick: Chapter 4 Wins the Weekend Box Office With Franchise-Best Debut

John Wick is back, as John Wick: Chapter 4 absolutely dominated its opening weekend en route to a franchise-best debut.

John Wick 4 raked in $73.5 million at the North American box office, and $137.5 million worldwide. The movie debuted in the top slot in all 71 markets it opened at this weekend.

The movie’s massive opening weekend made history in a couple of notable ways. According to Elzer & Associates, The John Wick franchise is only the ninth film series in the last 40 years to reach a record debut in its fourth outing. Of those nine, John Wick joins only four others that have grown in popularity with each new entry. John Wick: Chapter 4 is also the biggest R-rated opening weekend since the box office rebounded from the pandemic.

The original John Wick opened at $14 million, Chapter 2 at $30 million, and Chapter 3 at $56 million, making Chapter 4’s $73.5 million a pretty sizable jump from the other entries. The movie had a budget of $100 million, meaning its opening weekend alone has already surpassed the production costs.

John Wick 4’s early commercial success is in line with its widespread critical acclaim. We called the movie a masterpiece, saying, “It seemed like an impossible task, but the Baba Yaga has a history of delivering on those: John Wick: Chapter 4 stands above its predecessors – and the past decade’s worth of action films as a whole – as a modern epic, something Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski have been driving at since 2014.”

Elsewhere, the weekend box office was not as kind to DC’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods. According to Variety, Shazam 2 earned just $9.7 million in its second weekend, a 69% decline from its debut. Fury of the Gods has earned about $46 million in North America, which is a far cry from its $110 million production costs and similarly-sized marketing budget.

There’s been some drama in the news surrounding Shazam 2, with star Zachary Levi saying Dwyane Johnson blocked a post-credits scene that would’ve brought Shazam and Black Adam together.

Other movies in the weekend’s top five included Scream VI, Creed III, and 65.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.