The overall hype around John Wick: Chapter 4 is canceling out its relatively long run time; the action film is performing splendidly at the box office after setting franchise records in its opening weekend. John Wick 4 has already passed the $150 million mark globally, in less than a week of release, and is riding a wave of enthusiasm that has only increased thanks to the positive reviews.
This means that the film has already overtaken the first John Wick’s $86 million lifetime global haul, and will pass John Wick: Chapter 2’s $171 million global tally in a matter of days. Then, it will set its sights on beating John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum’s $327 million haul. John Wick 4 has grossed $86 million domestically and another $64 million from overseas territories, for a running global total of just over $150 million.
The film rocketed to a $138 million global debut last weekend — a new benchmark for the nearly decade-old action franchise. John Wick 4 also set a new record at the domestic box office, posting a $73 million opening weekend haul, and easily overtaking John Wick 3’s $56 million opening from 2019.
Everything about the fourth film is super-sized, not just its commercial performance. John Wick 4 is the longest film in the series, clocking in at nearly three hours. It’s also the most expensive, having been produced on a reported budget of $100 million, and has arguably the most elaborate action set-pieces of any John Wick movie. Studios are generally hesitant about lengthy movies, because this reduces the number of shows that can be squeezed into a day. But we’ve seen several big-budget movies in recent years that have flirted with three hour run times. Several of them — Avatar: The Way of Water and The Batman, to name a couple — have worked terrifically at the box office. We can now include John Wick 4 on this list as well.
This Isn't the End For the John Wick Franchise
In the fourth John Wick, everybody’s favorite assassin, played by everybody’s favorite movie star Keanu Reeves, finds himself being chased around the world by enemies new and old. Touted as something of a finale, John Wick 4 ends on a rather conclusive note. But at least two spinoffs — the first a female-led film titled Ballerina, and the other a prequel television series titled The Continental — are in production. Not to mention the separate spinoff that John Wick 4 teases in its post credits scene, and the recent suggestion that a fifth movie in the main franchise might not entirely be off the table.
But with director Chad Stahelski tapped to direct an adaptation of the Ghosts of Tsushima video game, it’s unclear when he’ll be able to return to world that he has so painstakingly created over the last decade. Because the John Wick franchise certainly won’t be the same without him. You can watch our interview with Stahelski here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.