Admittedly, we were far more prepared to declare Avengers: Endgame’s dethroning at the hands of a certain king of the monsters, who stomps into theaters next weekend. Our assumptions, however, are indicative of a valuable box office lesson: Never underestimate the power of Keanu Reeves and a franchise that only trends upward with each chapter. John Wick: Chapter 3–Parabellum scored just over $53 million across 3850 screens, surpassing previous box office predictions and knocking Endgame out of its top spot in its fourth weekend. Before anyone contemplates pitying the end of Marvel’s box office reign, please note that Endgame still pulled in $29.4 million domestically and showed across a massive 4220 screens nearly a month after its release. Besides, per CNet, it managed to sail past Avatar’s $761 million domestic gross with $770.8 million and still has a chance to rule internationally. Surely Disney, who wins with either scenario, is watching this race with bated breath.
The international shake-up of Detective Pikachu was likely a sign of change on the horizon. Though it slipped to third in domestic box offices this weekend, it maintained its stronghold overseas with a global haul of $287.4 million. Trailing behind the sleuthing Pokemon is another franchise: the third installment of the W. Bruce Cameron Good Boy Cinematic Universe. A Dog’s Journey, starring the voice of Josh Gad, quietly premiered this past weekend in fourth place with a modest $8 million. Meanwhile, The Hustle fell to fifth place.
The most unfortunate opening weekend has to go to MGM and Warner Bros.’ The Sun Is Also A Star, which accrued a disappointing $2.6 million for its first weekend. At best, the film can boast that it still managed to outperform Poms with almost 700 less screens. For now, all eyes are on Disney’s live-action Aladdin and indie darling Booksmart as they open this Friday, May 24.
For more detailed box office information, check out Box Office Mojo.