'John Wick: Chapter 4': Best Start For Franchise, Modest TV Marketing

Rocketing to a record for the franchise and exceeding all pre-release estimates, Lionsgate's “John Wick: Chapter 4” dominated the next-to-last March weekend with $73.5 million in U.S./Canada box office results, according to Comscore.

"Wick" bucked typical franchise results by continuing to exceed previous weekend starts. Starting in 2014, "John Wick" earned a modest $14 million, with 2017’s "John Wick: Chapter 2"  coming in at $30.4 million and 2019's “John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum” soaring to $56.8 million.

The film achieved dominance at the box office despite from a very modest $10.3 million in national TV advertising spend -- with some $3.0 million in the last 14 days, according to iSpot.tv estimates.

That yielded a modest 684.9 million impressions. Analysts say strong word-of-mouth marketing -- as well as positive reviews -- helped push the movie over the top.

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The $64 million in international results earned the movie the number-one spot in each of its 71 markets where the film opened this weekend.

Far back in second place was Warner Bros.' "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" -- in its second weekend at $9.7 million, this after an underperforming 36.6 million in its start the weekend before.

Top TV marketing spending for upcoming releases that are currently in full swing, according to estimates from iSpot.tv, include: Amazon Studios’ "Air" at $21 million (debuting April 5); Universal Pictures' "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" with $16.0 million (April 5); Paramount Pictures' "Dungeons & Dragons": Honor Among Thieves," $10.8 million (March 31) and Universal's "Renfield" at $4.3 million (April 14).

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