Two years after its initial theatrical run, the action blockbuster John Wick: Chapter 4 has finally debuted in China. The movie grossed around $3 million in its opening weekend, out-performing the recent Mickey 17‘s 10-day haul in three days flat. This is a remarkable achievement for a two-year-old film that is easily accessible online. But such is the power of star Keanu Reeves, or, more likely, the Hong Kong action icon Donnie Yen, who plays a memorable supporting role in the film. Directed by Chad Stahelski, John Wick 4 also cemented its position as the highest-grossing film of the hit action franchise.
The film’s total box office haul now stands at over $440 million globally. John Wick 4 was produced on a reported budget of $100 million, and was initially released in March 2023, after being delayed from its original May 2021 release date. It’s the franchise’s first installment to receive a theatrical release in China, which has gradually been easing restrictions on foreign titles. Around a decade ago, Hollywood movies made a killing in the Middle Kingdom, but the pandemic changed the game. China fostered its own self-sustaining ecosystem, resulting in films such as this year’s Ne Zha 2. With over $2 billion in global box office revenue, it’s the fifth-biggest hit in history.
The John Wick franchise began over a decade ago, with the stripped-down first film grossing around $85 million worldwide. A sequel, titled John Wick: Chapter Two, grossed over $170 million worldwide in 2017. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum made over $335 million globally in 2019. In total, the four John Wick movies have grossed over $1 billion in global box office revenue. To top it all off, each of the four movies has been critically acclaimed, with John Wick 4 having settled at a franchise-best “fresh” 94% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
John Wick Will Return in the Upcoming ‘Ballerina’
In his review for Collider, Ross Bonaime wrote that “Chapter 4 does the best job so far in this series of building out this world in ways that don’t overcomplicate or overtake the narrative at hand.” The movie concluded with the protagonist seemingly dying, but there has been word of a return of some kind. Whether a fifth movie is produced remains a mystery, but John Wick will return in the upcoming spin-off From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas and set between the third and fourth films. Ballerina will be released in June.
via Collider