Global audiences have been gaga for Baba Yaga with Lionsgate/Thunder Road Films/87 Eleven’s John Wick: Chapter 4 now having passed the $400M mark worldwide.
The Keanu Reeves-starrer jumped out of the gate in late March, scoring a $137.5M global debut in a best-ever for the franchise. JW4 in mid-April then became the top-grossing film in the series; it’s also the best-reviewed John Wick movie ever at 94% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently, JW4 is estimated at $226M overseas and $402M global (+22% versus John Wick 3 – Parabellum’s final tally). That’s after a weekend that brought in another $10.1M from 86 international box office markets.
The previous titles in the series have had staggered overseas releases while JW4 kicked off in 71 markets, the widest day-and-date release internationally for the franchise.
Anticipation was high for the Chad Stahelski-directed pic with Reeves starting a promotional tour at Brazil Comic Con in December. Reeves, Stahelski and other key filmmakers and stars also participated in press days and premieres in London, Berlin and Paris. The efforts paid off with No. 1 openings across the world. That includes the Middle East which launched just a week ago. Japan is still to come this fall.
Lionsgate, together with licensing giant IMG, curated its largest consumer products program to date for the film. In other promotions, the studio worked to create continental pop-up experiences for fans and influencers across 23 cities in 20 countries and on five continents including stunts, events and themed premieres inspired by the World of Wick and local cultures. Key cities included Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Toronto, Paris, Berlin, Mumbai, Mexico City, Warsaw, Lisbon, Bucharest, Johannesburg, Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, New York and Los Angeles.
The Top 5 offshore markets to date are the UK ($20.1M/+43% versus Parabellum), Germany ($19.2M/+54%/via Leonine), Australia ($15.7M/+42%/via Studiocanal), Mexico ($13.8M/+86%/via IDC) and CIS ($13.3M/+75%/via Unicorn).