John Wick: Chapter 4 punched, kicked, and then shot several times its box office competition over the weekend. The fourth entry in the Keanu Reeves-helmed action series collected $73.5 million in ticket sales. To put this in context, the first John Wick pulled in $14 million on its opening weekend; John Wick: Chapter 2 made $30.4 million; and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum made $56.8 million. Rarely does a fourth entry in a franchise surpass its predecessors, but then again it was also the most expensive, costing more than $100 million.
Vulture contributor Fran Hoepfner talks the Wicked film's marketing campaign, why 'culture jacking' works so well and how it all paid off for the hit musical.