1. John Wick: Chapter 3-Parabellum (review)- $57M
Something had to take out Avengers: Endgame, and who better than the Baba Yaga himself, John Wick? Chapter 3: Parabellum opened with a whopping $57M domestic, a dollar amount roughly equal to the film’s body count. This is the second-biggest opening weekend ever for star Keanu Reeves, behind 2003’s The Matrix: Reloaded, back when we thought that movie would be tight. What makes this debut more impressive is that it’s an extremely violent R-rated movie with a star who skews a bit older. Even the Taken movies, which had Liam Neeson breaking bones with reckless abandon, were rated PG-13. So what we’re seeing here is a franchise on the upswing. The first John Wick opened in 2014 with $14M, but rode a wave of good reviews and buzz to $88M worldwide, about half of that stateside. The sequel arrived three years later and opened with $30M on the way to $171M globally. Already it looks as if Chapter 3 will top that, and the next film, which is inevitable at this point, should do even better.
2. Avengers: Endgame– $29.4M/$770.8M
With $770M domestic, Avengers: Endgame has surpassed the $760M haul of Avatar to be the second highest-grossing movie in U.S. history. It’s still a good stretch away from The Force Awakens‘ $937M, and chances are it won’t even come close. Worldwide, Endgame‘s $2.5B trails Avatar by $200M, and may fall just short of surpassing it.
3. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu– $24.8M/$94M
Pikachu couldn’t keep the electricity going for another week, but $24M and a 56% drop isn’t too terrible. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu now has $94M domestic and an impressive $206M worldwide, banking on the franchise’s international appeal. At this rate, it’ll pass 2001’s Tomb Raider to become the highest-grossing video game movie in U.S. history. Sorry, Angelina.
4. A Dog’s Journey– $8M
This week people chose to watch dogs maim and kill, or be the impetus for revenge, in John Wick than go on a spiritual quest in A Dog’s Journey. The sequel to 2017’s A Dog’s Purpose opened with just $8M, less than half of its predecessor which four-legged it out to $205M worldwide, a third of that domestic. I barely remember seeing any promos for this one, and while it should be obvious didn’t put two-and-two together that it was a sequel.Ultimately, this may have been the wrong weekend to open as there wasn’t much room for newbies.
5. The Hustle– $6M/$23.1M
6. The Intruder– $4M/$28M
7. Long Shot– $3.4M/$25.7M
I still can’t believe this terrific film with two of today’s biggest stars in Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron, is getting beat by The Intruder.
8. The Sun is Also a Star (review)- $2.6M
It was a downright disastrous start for The Sun is Also a Star, the romance drama which stars Black-ish‘s Yara Shahidi and Riverdale‘s Charles Melton as the children of immigrants who fall in love a day before she’s due to be deported. It’s a smart, beautifully-shot film and another feather in the cap of Before I Fall director Ry Russo-Young. But I think too many dismissed it as just another flaky young adult movie, rather than appreciating its timeliness and cultural representation. Not that those things should be automatic draws, but certainly better than $2.6M.
9. Poms– $2M/$10M
10. Uglydolls– $1.6M/$17.2M
