‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ starrer Keanu Reeves is leading high with the best opening weekend at the domestic box office, eyeing a finish that could stretch north of $70 million.
The sequel got off to an impressive start with a $29.4 million opening day from 3,855 locations, a gross that includes $8.9 million last week.
The ‘John Wick’ series has achieved a consistent growth that most modern Hollywood franchises can only envy, beginning with a storyline written from scratch and following with a series of entries that have each proven to be bigger than the last.
The opening weekend gross of ‘Chapter 4’ looks to blast past the $56.8 million debut earned by the series’ third entry, 2019’s ‘Parabellum’.
The first round of box office returns is not the only number that are up for the Keanu Reeves vehicle. ‘Chapter 4’ has earned glowing praise from critics, notching a series-high 92 percent approval rating from top critics on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.
Read more: Will there be a ‘John Wick 5’ featuring Keanu Reeves?
The film also landed a franchise-best ‘A’ grade through research firm Cinema Score, indicating resounding enthusiasm among the first round of ticket buyers.
‘Chapter 4’ is the most expensive ‘Wick’ entry yet for producers Thunder Road and 87eleven Entertainment. The movie sees Reeves return as the notorious assassin, hellbent on freeing himself from the jurisdiction of the quasi-religious, all-powerful High Table.
In his way are a series of new enemies, faces from the past, and a Frenchman with a penchant for torture. Series newcomers Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Rina Sawayama and Scott Adkins join an ensemble of returning players, including Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and Lance Reddick, who died at the age of 60 earlier this month.
