LOS ANGELES -- The third John Wick movie arrived to stronger-than-expected ticket sales, returning Keanu Reeves to the top of the box-office chart for the first time in 11 years and giving Lionsgate a much-needed shot in the arm.
John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum, which finds the title's super-assassin (Reeves) on the run from other contract killers, collected about $57 million at theaters in the United States and Canada over the weekend, according to Comscore. The R-rated Lionsgate series has grown remarkably more powerful with each installment: John Wick: Chapter 2 had $30 million in initial ticket sales in 2017, improving on the $15 million that John Wick collected over its first three days in 2014.
Lionsgate said Sunday that Parabellum collected an additional $35 million in partial release overseas. The film received strong reviews from most critics. David Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment Research, said the results put the series "on outstanding footing going forward" and said it was now "an elite action thriller franchise."
"This is the best reviewed film of the series so far," said Joe Drake, chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, in a statement. "We believe word-of-mouth will continue to drive strong business for the film all over the world."
Internationally Parabellum earned $35.2 million from 66 territories.
"The marketplace was so dominated by Parabellum," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "It's tough when one movie over performs by this kind of magnitude."
Avengers: Endgame slid to second place in its fourth weekend with $29.4 million. Domestically, where the film has grossed $711 million, it's now second only to Star Wars: Episode VII -- The Force Awakens ($937 million) and globally, with $2.6 billion, it's still second to Avatar ($2.8 billion).
At No. 3, Warner Bros.' Pokemon Detective Pikachu added $24.8 million in its second weekend for a cumulative $94 million.
In fourth place, Universal's A Dog's Journey opened below expectations with $8 million.
The picture, told from the perspective of a dog, is a follow-up to 2017's A Dog's Purpose, which opened with $18 million before grossing $64 million during its theatrical run. The latest installment earned an A rating on CinemaScore but mixed reviews, with a 49% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Rounding out the top five, United Artist Releasing's The Hustle added $6.1 million in its second weekend for a cumulative $23.1 million.
At No. 6, Columbia's The Intruder added $4 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $28.1 million.
In seventh place, Lionsgate's Long Shot added $3.4 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $25.7 million.
The Sun Is Also a Star, a low-budget romantic drama starring Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton, was booked into more than 2,000 theaters by Warner Bros. but only managed No. 8 with $2 million in ticket sales.
Based on a young adult novel by Nicola Yoon, the film earned a B-minus CinemaScore and a 50% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
It's a far cry from the days of The Fault in Our Stars' $48 million debut in 2014, and even the last film based on a Nicola Yoon novel, Everything, Everything, which opened to more than $11 million in 2017.
"As unpredictable and fickle as young adults are, so are the performances of films that target that audience," Dergarabedian said.
At No. 9, STX Entertainment's Poms added $2.1 million in its second weekend for a cumulative $10 million.
Rounding out the top 10, the studio's Uglydolls added $1.6 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $17.2 million.
Opening on 109 screens, Roadside Attractions' death penalty drama Trial by Fire, starring Laura Dern, earned $78,822, a dismal $723 per screen.
Fox Searchlight expanded Tolkien into six additional locations (1,501 total) to gross $735,000 for a cumulative $3.8 million.
Neon expanded The Biggest Little Farm into 40 additional locations for a total of 45 with $270,000 for a per-screen average of $6,000 and a cumulative $406,708.
In limited release, Joanna Hogg's well-reviewed relationship drama The Souvenir did well with $85,851 from four screens.
Even with the success of Parabellum, the weekend itself was down about 31% and the year to date is still down around 9%, but, Dergarabedian said that this is the calm before the storm. In the next few weekends theaters will see an influx of could-be hits such as Rocketman and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
This week, Buena Vista and Disney reveal the live-action reimagining of Aladdin, United Artists Releasing opens the comedy Booksmart and Sony Screen Gems debuts the horror film Brightburn.
MovieStyle on 05/24/2019