Ragesh Dipu
‘John Wick 3‘ takes on ‘Avengers: Endgame’ with an estimated gross of $56M in the opening weekend. The third movie of the action franchise ‘John Wick,’ ‘Parabellum‘ collected $22.6M on Friday alone, in addition to an impressive haul of $5.9M from Thursday night previews, reports Variety. The movie is now eyeing a total weekend gross of more than $56M from 3,850 centers in the North American market to topple ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ ‘John Wick 3’ has earned an A- CinemaScore and 88% Rotten Tomatoes rating, both of which bodes well for its box-office prospects.
The opening of ‘Parabellum’ is way over expectations and its predecessors. ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ scored an opening gross of $30.4M February 2017. The first movie of the franchise, ‘John Wick: Chapter 1’ collected a gross of $14.4M in the opening weekend.
Keanu Reeves returns in ‘Parabellum’ as his iconic hit man John Wick. But this time the retired assassin has no privileges of being part of an international assassin’s guild. In ‘Parabellum,’ John Wick is a lone wolf. Moreover, a bounty of $14M is announced on his head. Obviously, the world’s best killers are on his tail. Wick has to find his way out of New York City, unharmed. There is only one option left for him, to prepare for the final showdown. The other cast includes Anjelica Huston, Halle Berry and Laurence Fishburne. The movie is directed by stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski. Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins, and Marc Abrams wrote the script.
On the other hand, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ eyes an estimated $29M in its fourth weekend to capture the second spot behind ‘John Wick 3.’ The movie has already amassed a whopping $2.5B from the global box office. The grand conclusion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe sits on second place behind James Cameron’s ‘Avatar‘ in the highest grossing movie of all time list. ‘Avatar’ continues to hold its top spot with a huge $2.78B.
Warner Bros and Legendary’s ‘Pokemon Detective Pikachu‘ is expected to add a $20M to its first-week haul of $69.1M. The live-action flick is in third place at the box office. The movie has earned a promising Thursday gross of $2.7M. Ryan Reynolds voices the titular Pikachu while the other voice cast includes Justice Smith, Rita Ora, Rob Delaney, and Ken Watanabe among others. ‘Pikachu’ is directed by Robert Letterman.
Another new release of the weekend, Universal’s ‘A Dog’s Journey’ debuts with an estimated gross of $8M. The movie, which is a follow-up to the 2017 flick ‘A Dog’s Purpose,’ captures the fourth place in the weekend box office. Dennis Quaid and Josh Gad return as Ethan Montgomery and Baily, the dog in the movie.
Along with the biggies, director Ry Russo Young’s teen love story ‘The Sun is Also a Star’ has also debuted this weekend. The movie, which features Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton in the lead roles, earned $1M on Friday from 2,073 screens.
Cover Image Courtesy: Lionsgate
