John Wick: Chapter 4 on Pace for Franchise-Highest Opening Weekend

With the earliest reviews for John Wick: Chapter 4 looking overwhelmingly positive for the film, it looks like Lionsgate has another hit—both critically and commercially—on its hands. In addition to the glowing reviews, a new box office tracking report suggests the sequel could end up with the franchise's best opening weekend at the box office. The latest comes from BoxOfficePro, which says the Keanu Reeves vehicle could net upwards of $64 million at the domestic box office during its first weekend in theaters.

That's around $8 million more than the $56.8 million John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum made during its franchise-high opening. John Wick: Chapter 2 opened with $30.4 million while the first film in the series had a paltry $14.4 million opening weekend. When all was said and done, however, Parabellum went on to earn a sizable $171 million at theaters in the United States. Globally, the film ended up making nearly $328 million, a healthy sum for a production that reportedly costs just $75 million to make.

Is there going to be a John Wick 5?

Though all signs are pointing up when it comes to John Wick: Chapter 4, helmer Chad Stahelski says he and Reeves are planning on taking a bit of a break after this film sees its release.

"In our minds, Keanu and I are done for the moment. We're going to give John Wick a rest," Stahelski shared with The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm sure the studio has a plan. If everyone loves it and it goes kooky, then we'll take a quiet minute. Wicks always, for some weird reason, always get the latest release date in Japan. It's always like, three months later. If it's the same this time, we'll do a Japanese tour and release the movie in September. Keanu and I will take the long trip to Tokyo, we'll sit in the Imperial Hotel Scotch Bar and go, 'What do you think?' We'll have a couple 20-year-old whiskies and write some ideas on napkins. If those ideas stick, maybe we'll make a movie."

In addition to Keanu Reeves' eponymous hitman, Chapter 4 also has the franchise's biggest call sheet yet. Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane, and Lance Reddick are reprising their roles from earlier in the franchise while newcomers include Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Scott Adkins, Hiroyuki Sanada, Clancy Brown, Shamier Anderson, Rina Sawayama, and Natalia Tena. George Georgiou is also joining the franchise for the first time, playing The Elder, a character that was played by Saïd Taghmaoui in Parabellum.

John Wick: Chapter 4 will hits theaters on March 24th. What other John Wick Universe spinoffs would you like to see? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter!