Keanu Reeves rules box office

The Keanu Reeves sequel’s opening is a franchise best, kicking ‘Endgame’ to No. 2.

His “John Wick: Parabellum” knocks “Avengers: Endgame” out of the top spot.

It had to happen eventually, and Keanu Reeves was the man to do it.

Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” stole the top spot at the weekend box office from the mighty Marvel blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame,” which had dominated for three consecutive weeks.

“Parabellum” opened above expectations, with a franchise-best $57 million in the U.S. and Canada, and earned $92.2 million globally (another franchise record), according to estimates from the measurement firm Comscore.

The original “John Wick” opened in 2014 with $14.4 million and was followed up in 2017 with “Chapter 2,” which premiered to $30.4 million in domestic grosses.

In “Parabellum,” Reeves resumes the role of the titular former hitman who finds himself on the run from assassins. It earned positive reviews, with an A-minus CinemaScore and an 89% “fresh” rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

Despite the success of “Wick,” the overall box office was down 30% from a year ago, when Fox’s “Deadpool 2” opened with $125.5 million. The year-to-date domestic gross is now 9.1% behind that of 2018.

“Avengers: Endgame” added $29.4 million over the weekend, a 54% drop, for a cumulative $770.8 million. Globally, the movie stands at $2.6 billion and remains the No. 2 picture of all time, behind only “Avatar” ($2.78 billion).

At No. 3, Warner Bros.’ “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” added $24.8 million in its second weekend for a cumulative $94 million.

In fourth place, Universal’s “A Dog’s Journey” opened below expectations with $8 million.

The picture, told from the perspective of a dog, is a follow-up to 2017’s “A Dog ’s Purpose,” which opened with $18 million before grossing $64 million during its theatrical run. The latest installment earned an A rating on CinemaScore but mixed reviews, with a 49% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Rounding out the top five, United Artist Releasing’s “The Hustle” added $6.1 million in its second weekend for a cumulative $23.1 million.

At No. 6, Sony’s “The Intruder” added $4 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $28.1 million.

In seventh place, Lionsgate’s “Long Shot” added $3.4 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $25.7 million.

The final new release of the weekend, Warner Bros.’ “The Sun Is Also a Star,” opened at No. 8 with a disappointing $2.6 million.

Based on a YA novel by Nicola Yoon, the film earned a B-minus CinemaScore and a 50% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

At No. 9, the STX Entertainment film “Poms” added $2.1 million in its second weekend for a cumulative $10 million.

Rounding out the top 10, the studio’s “Uglydolls” added $1.6 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $17.2 million.

In limited release, A24’s “The Souvenir” earned $84,851 on four screens, for the week’s top per-screen average of $21,213.

Opening on 109 screens, Roadside Attractions’ death penalty drama “Trial by Fire,” starring Laura Dern, earned $78,822, a dismal $723 per screen.

Fox Searchlight expanded “Tolkien” into six additional locations (1,501 total) to gross $735,000 for a cumulative $3.8 million.

Neon expanded “The Biggest Little Farm” into 40 additional locations for a total of 45 with $270,000 for a per-screen average of $6,000 and a cumulative $406,708.

This week, Buena Vista and Disney reveal the liveaction reimagining of “Aladdin,” United Artists Releasing opens the comedy “Booksmart” and Sony Screen Gems debuts the horror film “Brightburn.”