John Wick: Chapter 4 has kicked off its international box office run to a strong start, with an estimated early cume of $3.9M from just a few markets, including Australia and New Zealand’s Thursday launches. This is in addition to the franchise-best domestic previews on Thursday, estimated at around $8M.
The film is being released in 71 international markets simultaneously, the largest day-and-date release for the franchise. The projected global box office for the opening weekend is $115M, with $45M coming from overseas. The previous film, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, opened to $36.9M internationally in 2019, for a total of $93.75M worldwide. However, Chapter 4’s opening includes major territories like Germany, France, and Spain, which were not part of Parabellum’s initial release.
According to early reports, Lionsgate/Thunder Road Films/87 Eleven’s John Wick: Chapter 4 has had a strong start at the international box office with its overseas rollout beginning on Wednesday.
The movie has grossed an estimated $3.9M in just a few markets, including Australia and New Zealand’s Thursday launches. It is expected to achieve a franchise-best with the domestic previews on Thursday.
The movie will be released in 71 international box office markets over the weekend, which is the biggest day-and-date release for the franchise. The anticipated global outlook for the movie is $115M, including $45M from offshore. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’s international opening in 2019 was $36.9M for $93.75M worldwide, a record start for the franchise at the time. However, Chapter 4’s opening frame includes major territories such as Germany, France, and Spain, which were not included in the previous installment’s release.
In Latin America, the paid previews on Wednesday garnered $994K, with Brazil leading at $328K, followed by Mexico with $240K. Only about 60% of Latin American cinemas had sneak previews, which is a promising sign for the weekend ahead. Last December, Keanu Reeves promoted the movie at CCXP in Brazil.
Premieres were also held recently in Berlin’s Zoo Palast and Paris’ Grand Rex.
Germany, which is consistently one of the top markets for John Wick movies, earned an estimated $635K in Wednesday evening previews, which is 40% higher than the previous installment. Regular shows started on Thursday on 800+ screens, making it the widest R-rated release in the market in the last decade.
In France, the Chad Stahelski-directed movie premiered at No. 1, earning $543K from 557 screens. Despite social unrest and protests in major cities, the start was 35% ahead of John Wick: Chapter 3. Chapter 4 has the best critical and audience scores of the franchise on AlloCiné.
In Taiwan, John Wick: Chapter 4 debuted at No. 1 with an estimated $418K, which is 17% higher than John Wick: Chapter 3 and 273% higher than last weekend’s opener Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
In Australia, the movie grossed $681K on Thursday on 259 screens ($1M including Wednesday’s previews). The opening day represented 66% of the entire box office and was 56% ahead of John Wick: Chapter 3. The launch day was the biggest for Studiocanal since Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and the best for any non-studio title since Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.
To conclude the strong international openings, New Zealand earned $140K on Thursday, which is 36% more than John Wick: Chapter 3. Sweden ($100K) and Finland ($74K) also premiered John Wick: Chapter 4 at No. 1 on Wednesday, with Sweden’s launch up by 105% from JW3, while Finland was on par with the previous movie.
Today, the UK and Spain are notably set to open. Historically, the top markets for the franchise include the UK, Germany, Mexico, Australia, and Korea. However, Korea and the Middle East will open in April, while Japan is set to launch in the fall.