The ‘John Wick’ franchise has become a rare anomaly– a brand that has gotten more popular with age thanks to home video, streaming, and cable. The first installment made only $43 million during its theatrical run, but upon hitting ancillaries, it accumulated more and more fans. The first film opened with $14.4M. ‘John Wick: Chapter Two’ more than doubled that with a $30.4M opening. And now, ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’ has beaten those two totals combined, opening with $57M and dethroning ‘Avengers: Endgame’. The third chapter is a crowdpleaser, with exiting audiences giving it an A- CinemaScore and 4½ stars (out of five) via PostTrak. Critics are reacting surprisingly positively, with it Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an 89% rating.
Despite abdicating the throne, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ took in an additional $29.4M, bringing its domestic total to $770.8M, surpassing ‘Avatar’ to become the #2 movie of all time. It still trails behind ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ which made $936M during its domestic theatrical run.
Worldwide, ‘Endgame’ has generated $2.615B, to become the second-highest-grossing movie ever, with just $173M between it and ‘Avatar’, which is still the global champ. So, despite early expectations, it doesn’t look like ‘Endgame’ will wind up as the highest-grossing movie of all time, either in the US or worldwide. (More on that below.)
‘Detective Pikachu’ took in $24.8M in its sophomore frame, bringing its total to $94M, and it is projected to cross the $100M mark before next weekend. Great word of mouth helps, as most audience members are pleasantly surprised by how good it is, and they’re spreading the news.
Like last week, contrary to performance in the US, ‘Detective Pikachu’ is the #1 movie in the world, beating both ‘John Wick 3’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’. (‘John Wick 3’ has not yet been released everywhere.) Globally, this picture has accrued $287.4M.
TOP FIVE
- John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (Lionsgate) – $56.8M
- Avengers: Endgame (Disney) — $29.4M
- Detective Pikachu (Warner Brothers/Legendary) – $24.8M
- A Dog’s Journey (Universal/Amblin) – $8M
- The Hustle (MGM) – $6.1M
‘Avengers: Endgame’ may no longer be #1, but Disney won’t be out of that spot for long, as the highly-anticipated live-action version of ‘Aladdin’ will easily claim victory next weekend, which is a four-day weekend thanks to Memorial Day.
Also opening are R-rated comedy ‘Booksmart’ and Superman-inspired horror movie ‘Brightburn’, which boasts James Gunn as a producer.
The competitive summer season is in full-effect. Looking beyond next week, the following frame sees the release of ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’, as well as Elton John biopic ‘Rocketman’. The weekend after that, ‘Dark Phoenix’ and ‘The Secret Life of Pets 2’ arrive, and then comes ‘Men In Black: International’, and… whew. You get the picture.
This is a lot of competition, and perhaps the greatest impact it will have is on the likelihood of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ becoming the highest-grossing film ever. It still has to make $165M to pass ‘The Force Awakens’, domestically, and $173M to beat ‘Avatar’ globally. With so many big movies opening, it doesn’t look as though that’s going to happen.
Check back next week to see how ‘Endgame’ and the other champs fare against ‘Aladdin’!
Source: Deadline
