‘John Wick’ Franchise Crosses $1B Worldwide Box Office

Summer’s tentpole rumble continues this weekend with Paramount’s seventh Transformers movie, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which is heat-seeking $155 million at the worldwide box office for its opening frame, $100M of that offshore.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” is readying to turbocharge the box office, targeting $50 million to $60 million in its opening weekend. There’s a chance that inaugural ticket sales could climb higher as the Paramount Pictures film touches down on Friday in 3,700 North American theaters. But the latest Autobot adventure is expected to face headwinds from last weekend’s champion, Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” The animated comic book sequel launched to $120 million and looks to add $45 million to $55 million in its second weekend of release. That’s close to double what the original, 2019’s “Into the Spider-Verse,” earned in its debut. Yep, Spidey’s still got it.

Broadway box office was down 6% last week – the second week of the 2023-24 season – with even some Tony-nominated productions taking noticeable hits. Camelot, New York, New York, Life of Pi, Fat Ham, Parade, Prima Facie and Shucked were among the productions reporting at least some box office slippage.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief After a few pandemic-addled years, the global box office is finally ready to feel the warmth of the studios’ tentpole releases. Though the swing-back to pre-pandemic release schedules is happening at different speeds in each market, the quartet of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “Fast X,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” — not to mention “The Super Mario Bros Movie” before them — have announced the arrival of Hollywood’s version of summer across much of the planet. France saw admissions climb by 33% in the first five months of 2023, compared with the equivalent period last year, according to data from the CNC (National Film Board). Compared with an average figure for 2017 to 2019, the performance of the 2023 box office is (only) 12% behind. France’s recovery has been powered by a string of successful local films including “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom,” “Alibi.com 2,” “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan,” “The Crime Is Mine” and Cannes opener “Jeanne du Barry.”

John Wick: Chapter 4 crashes straight in at Number 1 on the Official Film Chart.

Celine Song’s Past Lives from A24 is very much here and now, grossing $232k on four screens for over $58k per location, a nice number for Song’s debut film as the second-biggest limited opening of the year so far. A24 also had the highest in April with Beau Is Afraid at $80k per theater at four locations, testament to helmer Ari Aster’s devoted fan base.

The box office for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” just keeps on growing, and the film has just hit another major milestone.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Spidey’s still got it. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” a sequel to Sony’s 2018 Oscar-winning “Into the Spider-Verse,” collected $120 million in its box office debut — a towering figure that’s more than triple the original’s opening weekend. The first film, one of the intial cinematic introductions to the multiverse, started with a softer $34.4 million but turned into a word-of-mouth sensation during its theatrical run, which ended with $190 million in North America and $384 million globally. Now, thanks to the goodwill from “Into the Spider-Verse” and quality to match the hype, the follow-up film has managed to become a blockbuster from the jump. Already, “Across the Spider-Verse” has generated $208 million worldwide, including $88.1 million at the international box office. It cost $100 million.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” webbed up a stellar $120.5 million in its domestic box office debut. In beating expectations, it landed the second-biggest opening weekend of the year, behind only “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” with $146 million, as well as the third-biggest opening weekend for any “Spider-Man” film. Sony’s animated sequel is benefitting from great reviews and positive word-of-mouth, as well as goodwill from its predecessor, 2018’s Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Initial ticket sales were significantly higher than the first film, which introduced audiences to Miles Morales and the idea that “anyone can wear the mask” and opened to just $35.5 million. But it stuck around in theaters for a while, ending its big-screen run with $190 million in North America and $384 million globally.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The computer-animated flick enjoyed the biggest opening day of any movie so far this year, according to Deadline. It is also the third highest earner of any animated film, after “Incredibles 2” and “Finding Dory.”The Post called the follow-up to 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” “a dazzling, brilliant sequel.”“The Little Mermaid,” which opened last week and made a big splash in theaters, fell to second place, with $11.8 million in sales.Disney’s live-action adaption of the 1989 classic made headlines this week after IMDB announced it was changing its rating system due to “unusual voting activity” involving the film.

Naman Ramachandran Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £9.1 million ($11.3 million), per numbers from Comscore. Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” continued its strong performance in the territory, collecting £4.2 million in second place in its second weekend for a total of £16.2 million. In third position, in its third weekend, Universal’s “Fast X” earned £1 million for a total of £13.3 million. Occupying fourth place in its fifth weekend was Disney’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” with £993,389 for a total of £34.6 million. Disney’s “The Boogeyman” debuted in fifth position with £492,071.

Jordan Moreau What’s up, danger? After nearly five years, it’s time to swing back into the Spider-Verse, as Sony’s sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” has webbed up $17.35 million in Thursday previews at the box office. The animated sequel is expected to open at $80 million this weekend, with some projections going as high as $90 million or more. It’s a big swing ahead of the original movie, 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which opened with $35.4 million and had $3.5 million in Thursday previews. The Thursday total also gives “Across the Spider-Verse” the second-highest preview gross for an animated movie, behind “The Incredibles 2” with $18.5 million, and the second-highest previews for any “Spider-Man” film, behind “Spider-Man: No Way Home” with $50 million.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After being greeted with a seven-minute standing ovation on opening night of the Cannes Film Festival, Johnny Depp’s comeback movie “Jeanne du Barry,” directed by Maiwenn, has charmed French audiences after debuting in cinemas. The costume drama, which stars Depp as the French King Louis XV and marks his first leading role in three years, has been having a strong run at the French B.O., proving that the controversial star is still bankable. At least in France. The film was widely released by Le Pacte on 650 screens and has grossed nearly $4.1 million from more than 550,000 tickets sold in two weeks, according to Comscore France. Currently playing across 800 screens, the film got mixed reviews in Cannes, but still has the potential of selling up to 850,000 tickets (an estimated $6.4 million), according to Eric Marti at Comscore France.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.It is expected to enjoy a $104 million three-day weekend, according to Deadline.The Post called the flick, produced in part by Lin-Manuel Miranda, “more lifeless than far better two-dimensional painted drawings.”“Fast X,” which was in the No. 1 spot last Friday, slowed down to second, with $6.3 million in sales.The 11-title “Fast and Furious” franchise already sped past $7 billion in the global box office.

Brent Lang Executive Editor The return of John Wick, its popular hit man franchise, helped lift quarterly earnings at Lionsgate, enabling the company to best expectations. For the three-month period ending on March 31, revenues at Lionsgate increased 16.7% to $1.1 billion. The company also reported an operating loss of $49.6 million, which was slightly better than the $50.4 million in losses it logged in the year-ago period.  There was also a net loss attributable to Lionsgate shareholders of $96.8 million or 42 cents net loss per share. Adjusted net income attributable to Lionsgate shareholders in the quarter was $49.2 million or 21 cents in adjusted earnings per share. Lionsgate’s film business did much of the heavy lifting. The studio segment reported revenue of $823.6 million, an increase of 25% from the prior-year quarter, with the movie portion of that haul increasing by 85%. That was due to the success of “John Wick: Chapter 4,” a blockbuster sequel starring Keanu Reeves as the titular avenger, as well as the release of two modest hits in the faith-based drama “Jesus Revolution” and the Gerard Butler action-thriller “Plane.” It also helped off-set declines in Lionsgate’s television business, which the company said was the result of “timing” of when its shows are licensed or hit the airwaves.

Lionsgate again came in above market expectations as it reported results for its fiscal fourth quarter Thursday. It once more topped $1.1 billion in revenue, a 17% year-to-year jump, with $17 million in net income, for adjusted earnings per share of $0.21.

Matt Johnson’s film BlackBerry about the rise and fall of the world’s first smartphone passed $1.7 million its second week out with an estimated three-day gross of $525k in 595 theaters.

Universal’s “Fast X” is not bringing in the box office riches that past “Fast & Furious” films used to in North America with a $67 million domestic opening, but it is still finding great success internationally with a $253 million overseas launch to earn $319 million worldwide. In the U.S., “Fast X” isn’t showing signs that it will top the $173 million final total of its predecessor “F9,” a film that came out during the early stages of box office rebuilding in summer 2021.

The John Wick movie franchise has officially reached the billion mark!

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “John Wick” is officially a billion-dollar franchise. Ticket sales for Lionsgate’s Keanu Reeves-led action series have surpassed $1 billion at the worldwide box office, with its tally standing at $1.011 billion across four films. It was carried across the coveted milestone by “John Wick: Chapter 4,” which is now the highest grossing with $425 million to date. The latest entry, which is the most expensive with its $100 million price tag, opened in March to $73.5 million, notching a new domestic franchise record. “John Wick” is one of the rare franchises that has gotten more successful with each installment. The first movie tapped out with $86.1 million in 2014 but it became a sleeper hit on home entertainment, while the 2017 sequel ended its run with $174.3 million. 2019’s “Parabellum,” which is the highest grossing entry prior to “Chapter 4,” left the big screen with $328.3 million globally.