Box Office Recap: March 24-26, 2023
John Wick: Chapter 4 mows down franchise record with $70+ million domestic opening.
John Wick was kicking ass and taking names not only against the High Table but at the box office this weekend. John Wick: Chapter 4 earned a franchise best $70+ million domestic and $130+ million worldwide debut, with its domestic gross accounting for 64.0% of the combined $114.8 million domestic gross earned by the top ten films. Meanwhile, Shazam! Fury of the Gods took a hard fall over its sophomore frame, dropping nearly -70.0% and grossing under $10 million in only its second weekend.
Finishing in first, Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4 opened with $73.5 million domestically, surpassing the franchise’s previous opening performance recordholder, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ($56.8 million), by $16.7 million. The fourth entry of the acclaimed, Keanu Reeves led action series opened in 3,855 locations and earned an impressive per-theater average of $19,072. Along with high praise from critics, the R-rated actioner earned a franchise best “A” CinemaScore from opening weekend viewers, which should give it legs to continue a strong run. Internationally, the film nearly matched its domestic performance with $64.0 million, making its worldwide debut $137.5 million against a reported production budget of $100 million. For comparison, 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 opened with $56.8 million domestically and went on to gross $327.8 million worldwide against a $75 million production budget.
Looking ahead, John Wick: Chapter 4 does have some competition coming up with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves opening this upcoming weekend and The Super Mario Bros. Movie opening earlier in the week on Wednesday the following weekend. While, it’s not likely to hold on to that top spot for long, it could still benefit as counter-programming to those films, and the high praise from viewers could also lead to repeat viewings and word-of-mouth.
Bouncing back from third place last weekend to the runner-up spot, United Artists’s Creed III finished with $10.4 million domestically for a domestic cume that currently stands at $140.9 million. This marks a respectable -32.1% drop from its prior frame, earning a per-theater average of $3,256 at 3,207 locations. Internationally, the third entry of the iconic Rocky franchise’s spin-off series has taken in $105.0 million to help move its total worldwide run to $245.9 million against a reported production budget of $75 million.
Coming in third, Warner Bros.’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods got hit hard over its second weekend, dropping a massive -67.8% from it’s opening weekend frame with a paltry sophomore performance of $9.7 million domestically. This moves it’s total domestic performance to $46.3 million. Internationally, the DC superhero-based film earned $56.1 million for a worldwide cume that has now crossed the $100 million mark at $102.4 million. Still, with its reported production budget being $125 million and it already having dropped that drastically from its opening weekend, this is one milestone the folks at Warner Bros. and DC Studios aren’t celebrating.
Similarly, Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania received a near-70% drop over its second weekend. However, to Marvel’s credit, it managed to soften any projected losses by having a strong opening weekend of $104.0 million domestically and $241.3 million worldwide, whereas Shazam! Fury of the Gods opened with $30.5 domestically and $65.5 million worldwide. Given the disappointing results of both Fury of the Gods and DC’s prior film from last year, Black Adam, it’s safe to say both Warner Bros. and the viewers are ready to move on with the studio’s planned reboot of their DC Extended Universe.
In fourth place, Paramount’s Scream VI pulled in $8.4 million domestically over its third weekend in release, pushing its total domestic run to $89.9 million. This marks a -51.5% drop from its prior frame, earning a per-theater average of $2,503 at 3,355 locations. Internationally, the sixth entry of the iconic slasher horror franchise earned $49.4 to help bring its total worldwide earnings to $139.3 million against a reported production budget of $35 million. Within its franchise, this now moves Scream VI past the lifetime run of last year’s “requel” Scream ($137.7 million).
Rounding out the top five, Sony’s 65 earned $3.3 million domestically over its third weekend in release, pushing its total domestic run to $27.8 million. Internationally, the sci-fi actioner, which stars Academy Award nominee Adam Driver, has nearly matched its domestic run with $21.2 million for a global cume of $49.0 million against a reported production budget of $45 million.
Opening this weekend, Paramount Pictures will debut Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, their fantasy action comedy that is based on the tabletop role-playing game and stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith and Hugh Grant.
* Total worldwide gross listed in parenthesis.
1) John Wick: Chapter 4 – $73.5 million, Week 1 ($137.5 million)
2) Creed III – $10.4 million, Week 4 ($245.9 million)
3) Shazam! Fury of the Gods – $9.7 million, Week 2 ($102.4 million)
4) Scream VI – $8.4 million, Week 3 ($139.3 million)
5) 65 – $3.3 million, Week 3 ($49.0 million)
6) Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – $2.4 million, Week 6 ($466.9 million)
7) Cocaine Bear – $2.1 million, Week 5 ($80.1 million)
8) Jesus Revolution – $2.0 million, Week 5 ($49.0 million)
9) Champions – $1.5 million, Week 3 ($15.1 million)
10) Avatar: The Way of Water – $1.4 million, Week 15 ($2.31 billion)
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