Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” is on the hunt for the No. 1 spot at this weekend’s box office and is off to a good start with $5.9 million grossed from 3,000 screens during Thursday previews.
That figure is more than double the $2.2 million made by “John Wick: Chapter 2” from previews en route to a $30.4 million opening in February 2017. “Chapter 3” is estimated by independent trackers for a $35-40 million opening and could open to as much as $50 million after critics gave it strong reviews with an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score.
If “Chapter 3” opens above $40 million, it will be the largest opening weekend for a Lionsgate release since the $102 million opening of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2” in November 2015.
That would also mean that it would take the top spot from “Avengers: Endgame,” which has held No. 1 for the past three weeks. The Marvel blockbuster is still on pace to pass “Avatar” for the all-time global box office record, having grossed $2.53 billion and counting. This weekend it will pass “Avatar”‘s domestic total of $760 million, putting it behind only “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” on the all-time domestic charts.
Also releasing this weekend is Universal’s “A Dog’s Journey” and Warner Bros.’ “The Sun Is Also A Star.” “A Dog’s Journey” is the sequel to the 2017 film “A Dog’s Purpose” and is projected to open to $10-14 million after making $275,000 from Thursday previews. By comparison, “A Dog’s Purpose” opened to $18 million after grossing $455,000 at previews.
“The Sun Is Also A Star” is a romance film based on the book of the same name by Nicola Yoon and is projected for a $6-8 million opening. It has a 51% Rotten Tomatoes score.