iWorld
Keanu Reeves’ John Wick: Chapter 4 completes 50 successful days
Mumbai: Lock, load and shoot – and boy, did it fire well! Keanu Reeves starrer John Wick: Chapter 4 surpassed all set expectations and made waves at the Indian box office with its colossal success. The fourth installment in this Baba Yaga series, beat all its predecessors to become the highest grossing film in the franchise and the 47th highest grossing Hollywood title in India leaving fans in awe of the punches and punchlines. This Lionsgate film made its presence heard and left people feeling an emotion that only Keanu could make them feel. After its release in India on 23 March, John Wick: Chapter 4 has completed a triumphant run of 50 days and continues to run in cinemas across the country. JW4 released in more than 1000+ cinemas in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, thus making the installment the widest release of the franchise.
With a gross collection of INR 59 crores (as on 10 May 2023), the action-thriller took away the title of being the highest-grossing Hollywood title of 2023 in India as of date. It topped other major releases like Black Adam, Top Gun Maverick, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania , and The Batman assuring Hollywood fans all over the country that the Boogeyman’s legacy lives on.
Talking about John Wick: Chapter 4’s milestone, Lionsgate India VP Gayathiri Guliani said, “John Wick: Chapter 4 surpassed all our expectations to become something that’s much bigger than a film; an emotion. We are glad that the audience showed so much love and stellar support from our partners taking us towards 50 glorious days at the box office. Lionsgate is proud to be a part of this cult-favorite franchise and our aim will always be bringing viewers the best.”
PVRINOX Pictures distribution head Rajesh Das said, “PVRINOX Pictures have been an integral part of the John Wick journey in India from its humble origin when the first installment hit the theatres in 2014. It’s been overwhelming to see how the sequels have evolved from being an unknown indie production into one of the biggest action movie franchises of all time. Seeing the strong & compelling content coupled with the huge demand amongst a wide demographic, we were extremely bullish in positioning, promoting & assertively distributing this fourth chapter across a maximum number of cinema chains. The unprecedented box office success & audience euphoria is a testament to the cult following it has garnered among our movie-going audiences.”
Lionsgate and PVRINOX Pictures released John Wick: Chapter 4 in theaters on 23 March in India, and the movie continues to lure movie-goers into theatres.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
