John Wick: Chapter 4 scores the biggest opening weekend of the series

Yeah, we're thinking he's back!

John Wick: Chapter 4 opened to an impressive $73.5 million at the domestic box office this weekend, marking easily the biggest debut yet for the action franchise. This surpasses the series' previous high of a $56.8 million opening weekend for John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum in 2019.

In fact, every John Wick installment to date has improved on the previous film's box office haul, as Chapter 2 opened to $30.4 million in 2017, and the original movie only had a $14 million domestic debut in 2014. Starring Keanu Reeves as a former hitman who goes up against a sprawling network of assassins, the John Wick franchise has gradually become an unlikely box office juggernaut. Director Chad Stahelski recently told Insider he didn't expect to even get one sequel after "no one clapped" in the first test screening of the original movie, which only grossed $43 million domestically in its entire run.

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The latest Wick's opening continues a strong year for tentpole sequels that aren't comic book movies after Scream VI and Creed III both set new opening weekend records for their franchises. Meanwhile, the two biggest superhero movies of the year so far, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, have both had somewhat disappointing performances, raising the question of whether superhero movie fatigue may be setting in. In May, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be the next big test.

Stahelski told The Hollywood Reporter that after Chapter 4, he and Reeves are "done" with John Wick movies "for the moment." But a prequel TV series called The Continental is already headed to Peacock, and a spinoff film, Ballerina, is also on the way. So this franchise may not be out of ammo just yet.