WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for John Wick: Chapter 4!The box office success of John Wick: Chapter 4 has broken numerous records for the franchise and its stars, release date, and rating, which can be attributed to the movie’s story, franchise trends, and premiere strategy. John Wick: Chapter 4 is the franchise’s most intense and action-filled installment yet, as Keanu Reeves’ title hitman finds a path to defeating the High Table while the price on his head increases. In addition to John Wick: Chapter 4’s stellar reviews, the movie has proven its high quality and success through its opening weekend box office stats, which recorded $73.5 million at the domestic box office with a worldwide total of $137.5 million (via Variety).
The impressive debut of the John Wick: Chapter 4 marked the biggest opening weekend box office of the entire franchise, suring the previous record-high $56.8 million domestic total set by John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. John Wick: Chapter 4’s worldwide opening also beat the lifetime accumulation of John Wick (2014), which ended its run at $86 million. The sequel’s box office also boasts the biggest opening for an R-rated movie since 2020’s Bad Boys for Life, Keanu Reeves’ second-biggest domestic opening after The Matrix Reloaded, and 2023's second-biggest opening behind Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. John Wick: Chapter 4’s triumph is huge for the box office’s future and the type of films that succeed, which has several key explanations.
6 John Wick 4 Continues The Franchise’s Increased Box Office Trend
John Wick: Chapter 4 recording the franchise’s biggest opening weekend box office shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it follows the trend already set by the previous installments. Each John Wick sequel has recorded a bigger opening weekend box office than its predecessor: John Wick opened to $14.4 million in 2014, John Wick: Chapter 2 increased its opening at $30.4 million, John Wick: Chapter 3 performed even better with a $56.8 million domestic opening, and John Wick: Chapter 4 followed suit with a significantly higher $73.5 million total. Every John Wick sequel has recorded $16-26 million higher openings than the film before.
While early pandemic trends suggested that John Wick: Chapter 4’s box office could have been lower or on par with John Wick: Chapter 3, March 2023 had already set an optimistic precedent with other non-superhero franchises like Creed 3 and Scream 6 setting record-high box office openings. Since sequels don’t always outperform their predecessors, John Wick: Chapter 4 continuing to beat the impressive box office openings of the other three movies in the franchise is still an impressive feat. However, John Wick: Chapter 4 continuing the franchise’s increased box office opening trend sets a difficult standard for John Wick spinoff movies like Ballerina to follow.
5 John Wick: Chapter 4 Has The Best Reviews Of The Franchise
The record-high box office debut of John Wick: Chapter 4 can also be explained by the movie’s sensational reviews. Ahead of its official premiere, John Wick: Chapter 4 boasted the franchise's best Rotten Tomatoes score at a Certified Fresh 93% rating from critics. This beat the previous films’ scores of 86% for John Wick and a tied 89% for John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3. John Wick: Chapter 4’s initial rave reviews were incredibly enticing for fans of the franchise to see the sequel as early as possible, with the critical and audience response increasing after the film’s release.
At the time of writing, John Wick: Chapter 4 has a rare tied critic and audience score of 94% each, indicating widespread acclaim from industry professionals, casual viewers, and hardcore fans alike. Considering all three prior John Wick movies were available to stream on Peacock ahead of the fourth movie’s release, the 2023 sequel’s impressive reviews likely inspired first-time viewers to watch the franchise as quickly as possible before seeing what all the hype for John Wick: Chapter 4 was about on opening weekend. John Wick: Chapter 4 also had the best reviews of any theatrically-released franchise movie in March 2023, which may have convinced more viewers to see the film as soon as possible.
4 John Wick: Chapter 4 Features A Major Franchise-Changing Character Death
After Thursday night previews, many were unable to avoid spoilers about John Wick’s death in John Wick: Chapter 4. As such, the buzz around John Wick’s death suggested it would be the most important sequel to watch as the end of the title character’s story. John Wick’s death would inspire plenty more discussion around the franchise and the movie itself that becomes nearly unavoidable after opening weekend, so any hints at the fate of Keanu Reeves’ character would have tempted more audiences to quickly see the film. When a main character from a huge franchise like John Wick dies, the box office typically goes up, such as with No Time to Die, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Avengers: Endgame.
3 John Wick 4 Has The Franchise’s Greatest Action Sequences Yet
Another reason why John Wick: Chapter 4’s box office performance is so good is that the sequel features the best action sequences of the entire franchise. The action is non-stop in John Wick: Chapter 4, which is largely the reason why the franchise is so popular in the first place. Keanu Reeves is incredibly skilled in the action genre, and his best stunt work can be found in John Wick, specifically the chaos-filled final hour of John Wick: Chapter 4. The set pieces, striking visuals, and balletic action sequences will even dazzle those who don’t prefer the genre, making John Wick: Chapter 4 a fitting culmination of the franchise’s boundary-pushing, stylistic fight scenes that deserve to be seen on the biggest screen possible.
2 John Wick: Chapter 4 Isn’t Expected To Stream Anytime Soon
The box office success of John Wick: Chapter 4 can also be explained by its lack of an expected streaming release date, which increases the incentive for audiences to see the movie early in theaters. As a Lionsgate movie, John Wick: Chapter 4’s streaming release is subject to the studio’s deals with streaming platforms that aren’t necessarily tied to well-known release models like Peacock, Disney Plus, or Paramount Plus.
Rather, John Wick: Chapter 4 will begin streaming on Starz once its “Pay 1” window begins, and the service typically doesn't stream new Lionsgate movies until six months after their theatrical premieres. As such, those who don’t see John Wick: Chapter 4 in theaters will have to wait for its VOD release or until it begins streaming in approximately six months. Even still, Starz isn’t a massively popular streaming service, suggesting many audience opted to see John Wick: Chapter 4 in theaters rather than wait to get a subscription.
1 John Wick Has Always Warranted Theatrical Viewing
John Wick: Chapter 4’s box office success can also be attributed to the franchise’s reputation for being tailored for the big-screen. The movies’ unique style, massive set pieces, and non-stop action are far more engrossing in theaters than at home, which arguably enhances John Wick: Chapter 4’s viewing experience. With John Wick: Chapter 4 being promoted as the franchise’s biggest and most cinematically gripping installment yet, the necessity of seeing it in theaters is far greater than its predecessors, which the movie’s box office proves.
