When the first John Wick film hit theaters, it was a modest hit that made $86 million at the box office on a roughly $30 million budget. Not exactly blockbuster numbers, but still a very solid return. However, a funny thing happened. The film hit home video where audiences couldn’t get enough of Keanu Reeves creatively murdering everyone to avenge his dead pup.
A sequel was greenlit, and it nearly doubled the box office of the original with a $174.3 million haul. Not long after, John Wick: Parabellum smashed into theaters and continued the trend of almost doubling the box office of its predecessor. That film brought in $328.3 million globally.
Which brings us to John Wick: Chapter 4. While the latest film did not double the box office take of Parabellum, it certainly surpassed it with $425 million in ticket sales, making it the highest grossing John Wick film to date. It also pushed the box office total for the entire franchise past the $1 billion mark, which is pretty impressive for a series that started as a small little revenge movie about a dead dog.
Via Variety:
“This milestone is a testament to the incredible work of Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves, alongside Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, who have made it their mission to outdo themselves with each successive film in this franchise,” Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Joe Drake said. “We could not be more grateful to global moviegoers for bringing us to this incredible achievement.”
Of course, the big question is will Reeves and Stahelski try to top themselves again with a fifth movie. As of right now, John Wick 5 is not officially greenlit, or even hashed out, and they ending of the fourth did seem to put a wrench in future plans. However, the star and director have teased that after Chapter 4 debuts in Japan later this year, they’ll have a bottle of whiskey and decide if there are more bodies for John Wick to drop.
(Via Variety)