SONY - 'John Wick 4' blows away rivals with $73.5M opening; Lions Gate gains

2023-03-27 15:34:36 ET

Lions Gate Entertainment is higher late Monday - ( NYSE: LGF.A ) +3.3% , ( NYSE: LGF.B ) +3.4% - after its latest film release, John Wick: Chapter 4, topped even raised expectations at the weekend box office.

The film, the latest in a four-film franchise starring Keanu Reeves as as assassin, posted solid Thursday preview numbers, an opening day of $29.4M and a weekend total of $73.5M, outstripping the high end of expectations for $65M-$70M (and marking a far better opening weekend than the $30M from the prior week's leader, Shazam! Fury of the Gods ( NASDAQ: WBD )).

That means a franchise-best debut for a film series that has grown in strength with each outing. The first film, from 2014, grossed $43M; John Wick: Chapter 2 in 2017 reached $92M domestic; and John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum in 2019 opened to $56.8M, grossed $171M, and reached a worldwide total of $327.8M.

After an opening considered a flop, meanwhile, the Shazam sequel stumbled into third place with $9.7M, a near-68% drop-off from the disappointing opening outing.

That hero sequel fell in line just behind Creed III (United Artists/ NASDAQ: AMZN ), which added $10.4M to reach a cumulative domestic gross in four weeks of $140.9M - and just ahead of another of March's sequels, Scream VI ( PARA ) ( PARAA ), which pulled $8.4M to build its cumulative total to $89.9M.

Rounding out a top seven were 65 ( SONY ), with $3.25M; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ( DIS ), with $2.4M; and Cocaine Bear ( CMCSA ), with $2.1M.

John Wick: Chapter 4 ( LGF.A ) ( LGF.B ) immediately becomes the seventh-biggest grosser among 2023 movies, a list topped by Avatar: The Way of Water and the Ant-Man sequel.

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