'John Wick: Chapter 4'

Source: Lionsgate

‘John Wick: Chapter 4’

Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4 will be looking to dominate the UK-Ireland box office this weekend as it opens in 651 cinemas. 

The fourth instalment in the neo-noir action franchise sees Keanu Reeves’ titular character face off against new enemies and old friends. Laurence Fishburne also returns, while newcomers in the cast include Donnie Yen and Bill Skarsgard.

Chad Stahelski directs once again, having directed all three previous films, with a screenplay from Shay Hatten and Michael Finch.

The first John Wick opened to £540,466 in April 2015 while the sequel made a £2.2m debut in 2017 and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum opened with £2.7m in May 2019.

Next up is Paramount’s sports comedy 80 For Brady which is opening 428 sites. Hollywood veterans Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field and Rita Moreno play lifelong friends who are determined to meet NFL star Tom Brady.

It is the directorial debut of Kyle Marvin and is produced by Fifth Season, Watch This Ready and Brady’s outfit 199 Productions. 

This is the third film Tomlin and Fonda have starred in together, following 9 To 5 (1980) and Moving On (2022) as well as the Netflix series Grace & Frankie.

Trafalgar Releasing is screening Louis Tomlinson: All Of Those Voices in 350 sites on Saturday (March 25). The documentary, which opened on Wednesday (March 22), follows the former One Direction member on his journey to becoming a solo artist. 

The band’s own documentary One Direction: This Is Us opened with £3.5m for Sony back in 2013. 

A Good line-up

Sky Cinema is opening Zach Braff’s A Good Person in 195 locations. The drama stars Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman who form an unlikely friendship after a fatal accident. 

Also opening is Sundance premiere Infinity Pool which is screening in 154 sites for Universal. Brandon Cronenberg’s sci-fi horror stars Alexander Skarsgard, Cleopatra Coleman and Mia Goth (who also fronts Universal’s holdover Pearl) and is about a couple on a luxurious holiday who get caught up in the resort’s hedonistic subculture.

The Royal Opera House is playing Encore performances of its live opera Turandot – ROH, London 2023 (Opera) in 118 cinemas this weekend. The opera follows a princess whose suitors must solve her riddles to win her hand, or risk being brutally murdered.

BFI Distribution is screening a 4k remaster of the 1981 documentary Dance Craze in 32 locations. Joe Massot’s film explores the UK’s 2 Tone Ska Era from the late seventies to the early eighties.

Cannes Directors Fortnight title The Five Devils is opening in 29 cinemas. Distributed by Mubi, Léa Mysius’s French drama sees a young girl, who can recreate any scent of her choosing, transported through old memories after her aunt returns from prison.

Curzon is opening The Beasts, another Cannes premiere, in 28 locations. The Spanish thriller from Rodrigo Sorogoyen follows a French couple whose new presence in the village enrages the locals. It swept Spain’s Goya Awards earlier this year with nine wins including best film.

A further Cannes 2022 title opening this weekend is Manuela Martelli’s 1976 which is playing in 10 cinemas for New Wave. In the Chilean drama, a middle-class woman is forced to step out of her familiar comforts when she’s asked to take care of an injured young man.

Also opening is documentary Antidote, about indigenous healers in the Amazon rainforest, which screens in one location for Dartmouth Films this weekend; and Sundance 2022 premiere The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future, about a woman who is haunted by her deceased mother when she returns home, for Sovereign Films (location number pending). 

The key holdover titles are Shazam! Fury Of The Gods, Scream VI, Creed III and Rye Lane.