John Wick: Chapter 4 has been in theaters for over a month and has just hit another box office milestone that continues an oddly specific streak for the franchise. The John Wick series had humble beginnings, as the first movie had a budget of $20 million, which is relatively low by today’s standards. Nevertheless, the movie went on to make $80 million worldwide, and each consecutive release has been more successful than the last. John Wick: Chapter 4 is the most successful John Wick movie yet, and it has just crossed a huge number that Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski would never have thought was achievable in 2014.
After six weeks at the box office, John Wick: Chapter 4 broke a franchise record, grossing a total of $402 million and counting. That’s a whole $74 million more than its predecessor, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, and while the number is small compared to other huge action series and superhero franchises, it’s all relative to the movies’ budgets. John Wick: Chapter 4 was made with a relatively low $100 million, which is what helped the fourquel become such a talking point when it comes to the 2023 box office. John Wick: Chapter 4’s budget and box office intake also continues a very strange and specific series trend.
Every John Wick Movie Has Made 4 Times Its Budget
Given that John Wick: Chapter 4’s budget was $100 million and has just reached $400 million at the box office, the 2023 movie has made back four times its budget. That’s a huge success for any movie and a result that any studio would be happy with, as John Wick: Chapter 4 only needed $250 million to be a success. Interestingly, every John Wick movie has reached this milestone, somehow making almost exactly four times their budgets.
2014’s John Wick had a budget of $20 million and went on to make $86 million, which is 4.3 times its budget. John Wick: Chapter 2 had a budget of $40 million and made $174 million worldwide, which is 4.35 times its budget. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum had a $75 million budget and made a total of $328 million, which is 4.37 times its budget. The franchise’s numbers are so consistent, as the box office grosses essentially double along with the movies’ doubled budgets (via The Numbers). Though John Wick: Chapter 4’s box office gross won’t be double its predecessor’s, it’ll still continue the oddly specific four-times-the-budget trend.
John Wick’s Box Office Parallels Its Rotten Tomatoes Trend
John Wick’s box office success is what’s called a staircase trend, as each movie is more financially successful than the last, and that’s paralleled with John Wick’s strong Rotten Tomatoes trend too. Every John Wick movie has a better Rotten Tomatoes score than the last, though the second and third movies have the same 89%. John Wick: Chapter 4 has a sky-high “fresh” score of 94%. Between the box office performances and the Rotten Tomatoes scores, the John Wick franchise has achieved something completely unprecedented. No other major action franchise has gotten both consistently better box office grosses and consistently better critical receptions.
John Wick 4’s Total Box Office Prediction
To be specific down to one decimal point, the first three John Wick movies all made exactly 4.3 times their budgets. If John Wick: Chapter 4 wants to join the 4.3 club, it’ll have to make $430 million, which is an additional $28 million on top of what the movie has already made. When it comes to John Wick: Chapter 4’s domestic box office gross, the movie only dropped 17% on its most recent weekend after dropping 27% the week before (via The Numbers). Those numbers mean that John Wick: Chapter 4 is still holding strong after six weeks, and the movie still made over $10 million this past weekend.
The fourquel could reach $430 million, but John Wick: Chapter 4’s video-on-demand release could ruin the film’s chances. The action flick will be available to rent on Prime Video on May 23. Given that the movie is still making big numbers at the box office, Lionsgate might have jumped the gun on John Wick: Chapter 4’s VOD release, leaving millions on the table. The one thing for sure is that, after breaking so many box office records, the John Wick series will become a billion-dollar-grossing franchise by the end of John Wick: Chapter 4’s theatrical run. The series is only $10 million away from hitting that 10-digit number.
