Friday Report: Lionsgate this morning is reporting that John Wick: Chapter 4 earned $8.9 million from Thursday’s domestic previews, which began at 3pm.
With this result, the film is on track to meet expectations for a weekend debut north of $70 million, with mid-range models now pointing to near $75 million and more bullish outlooks looking at a possible $80 million-plus result.
As previews go, this is the highest R-rated performance of post-pandemic era, besting Jordan Peele’s Nope last summer ($6.4 million). It also comes in 51 percent ahead of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, which earned $5.9 million from opening Thursday shows back in May 2019.
Other notable preview comps which Chapter 4 has surpassed include the recent Scream VI ($5.7 million), Creed III ($4.03 million from Thursday alone), Black Adam ($7.6 million), Halloween Ends ($5.4 million), No Time to Die ($5.23 million from Thursday), Mission: Impossible – Fallout ($6.0 million), and the entire opening day of The Matrix Resurrections ($6.37 million).
Peele’s own Us currently holds the second-highest March weekend debut of all-time for an R-rated film at $71.1 million, while Logan is the benchmark at $88.4 million.
For star Keanu Reeves, 2003’s The Matrix Reloaded currently represents his personal best opening weekend ($91.8 million for the three-day portion of its extended opening).
