John Wick: Chapter 4 made light work of Shazam: Fury of the Gods at the Australian box office on the weekend, blasting its way to the top with $6.4 million from 542 screens.
In what seems to be an ongoing trend of non-superhero franchises becoming more popular the further along they are, Lionsgate’s fourth installment of the Keanu Reeves-led saga grossed $7 million, including previews, while averaging $11,854 per session.
By comparison, John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum took in $4.3 million, including previews, when it was released in 2019, and John Wick: Chapter 2 bowed to $1.7 million in 2017.
Directed by Chad Stahelski, John Wick: Chapter 4 picks ups up with the price ever increasing on the head of the titular hitman, played by Reeves, as he takes his fight against the High Table global and seeks out underworld players across New York, Paris, Japan, and Berlin.
Australia was one of 71 international markets where the film debuted in the top spot, taking in US$64 million outside of the US, while raking in a more than respectable US$73.5 million, stateside.
It helped the top 20 films at the domestic box office achieve an overall total of $10.5 million (Numero), representing an increase of 34 per cent.
Wallis Cinemas programming manager David Simpson said John Wick: Chapter 4‘s “marvellous” opening was what the cinema had been longing for.
“We saw large crowds across all our Wallis sites which is reassuring,” he said.
“[There were] also reasonable results also for Living and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves previews.
“With D&D’s release this week, plus The Super Mario Bros. Movie next, it’s all very promising.”
Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieran Dell commended John Wick: Chapter 4 for delivering, despite the film’s nearly three-hour run time restricting the number of sessions.
“MA-rated action movies aren’t our forte in regional areas, but it still represented over 40 per cent of our business this weekend,” he said.
“Shazam held up reasonably well for us, albeit from a slower start than hoped, while Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves had some promising preview numbers.”
After bowing to $2.3 million the previous weekend, Warner Bros. second Shazam outing garnered $964,578 from its sophomre frame – a 58 decrease – to take its overall total to $3.7 million.
Paramount’s Scream VI kept the hunt alive in third position with $771,920 from its third weekend to move to $6.2 overall.
Fellow franchise offering Creed III is still showing some fighting spirit in its fourth round, with the Warner Bros. boxing drama drawing $534,486 for an overall gross of $8.5 million.
Transmission’s Living maintained its existence in fifth spot with $336,349, representing 28 per cent decrease from its debut and bringing its overall total to $1.6 million.
It came in just ahead of Sony’s sci-fi thriller 65, which made $271,655 from its third outing to move past $2.5 million.
Securing seventh spot in its opening weekend was Trafalgar Releasing’s Louis Tomlinson: All Of Those Voices, a documentary about the One Direction member’s journey from being in the band to becoming a solo artist, which bowed to $174,304 from 104 screens at an average of $1,676 per session.
A decade after the original hit cinemas, the sounds of Elsa, Anna, and Olaf could be heard in theatres, as Frozen Sing-Along debuted at $131,178 from 212 screens for an average of $619 per session.
Rounding out the top ten were sports comedy Champions with $116,673 in its third outing and Universal stablemate Cocaine Bear, which took in $114,434 in its fifth, resulting in totals of $1.2 million and $4.2 million, respectively.
Dell said there was “something for everyone” in the weekend’s top titles, resulting in strong numbers heading into the Easter and school holiday periods.
“Scream VI and Champions chipped in with decent holdovers, while our encores of Andre Rieu in Dublin were popular as was Frozen Sing-Along,” he said.
Hayden Orpheum general manager Alex Temesvari was also hopeful of some momentum in the lead up to the holiday.
“We had solid trading over the weekend though something like John Wick doesn’t fire here the same way it would at other locations,” he said.
“We’re now optimistically awaiting the arrival of Super Mario and Air to give us a big bump through the Easter holidays.”
Of the Australian new releases to make their debut on weekend, Roadshow’s Of An Age, the sophomore film from acclaimed director Goran Stolevski, opened to $43,196 from 41 screens to record an average of $1,054 per session and just make it into the top 20.
Further down, Madman’s Queensland-shot fantasy adaptation The Portable Door drew 27,523 from 58 screens at an average of $475 per session.