The Blockbuster is Back as F9 Races Out of the Gate with a Record-Breaking $70M Bow
by Chris Nashawaty - Box Office News
June 27, 2021


The summer blockbuster is back! And that sound you just heard is Hollywood letting out its collective breath.

After more than a year of delays, Universal’s latest entry in the money-minting Fast & Furious cycle, F9: The Fast Saga, burned rubber out of the gate with a massive $70 million domestic debut. The opening not only left all previous pandemic-era box-office records in the dust, but also marked the biggest North American bow since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.







Originally slated to hit multiplexes over Memorial Day weekend in 2020, F9 was one of the most high-profile tentpoles to be put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic brought the theatrical movie business to a screeching halt more than a year ago. For adrenaline junkies, the long wait only intensified interest in the tenth installment of the stunt-happy, muscle-car franchise.

Even with only 80% of the country’s theaters fully reopened, F9 managed to roar past the most recent chapter in the speed-demon saga – the spin-off Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, which opened to $60 million in August 2019 and went on to earn $173 million domestically and $759 worldwide.

Prior to F9’s triumphant weekend, the previous pandemic-era opening-weekend record holder was A Quiet Place Part II, which bowed to a $47.5 million during its three-day Memorial Day frame.







Directed by returning series veteran Justin Lin, the PG-13-rated F9 unspooled in 4,179 locations and scored a fuel-injected $16,750 per-screen average. Overseas, where the film bowed earlier, the movie has already surpassed the $300 million mark.

Its current $334.9 million international haul brings its worldwide gross to $404.9 million, putting it on track to become the first film to race past $500 million in global receipts since The Rise of Skywalker.

With its $6.3 billion over the span of its 10 chapters, the Fast & Furious series is now the fifth highest-grossing film franchise of all time.







With no other new wide releases this weekend, the rest of the top five was basically the same old, same old in just a slightly different order.

In the runner-up spot was A Quiet Place: Part II, which is still making noise with $6.2 million in its fifth frame. Paramount’s PG-13-rated suspense sequel starring Emily Blunt fell off -31.8% from the previous weekend, scoring a $1,984 per-screen average in 3,124 theaters. Its domestic total now stands at $136.4 million.

Overseas, the film has racked up $112 million to date, putting its current worldwide total at $248.5 million.







Dropping into third place was last week’s top dog, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, which scored $4.9 million in its second weekend. The Lionsgate action-thriller starring Salma Hayek, Ryan Reynolds, and Samuel L. Jackson, fell a steep -57.2% in its sophomore frame, earning a $1,450 per-screen average in 3,361 theaters.

The R-rated sequel to 2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard now has a combined two-week domestic box-office total of $25.9 million. So far, the film has pulled in another $5.5 million from overseas, bringing its cumulative worldwide gross to $31.4 million.







Hopping into fourth place was Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. Sony’s PG-rated family film, featuring the voice of James Corden, nibbled just under $4.9 million in its third week in North American theaters.

The sequel dipped -20.3% from the previous frame, earning a $1,456 per-screen average in 3,331 locations. To date, the film has racked up $28.9 million at home, but a far more impressive $79 million from overseas, bringing its worldwide box-office total to $107.9 million.







Rounding out the top five was Disney’s Cruella. The live-action origin story of 101 Dalmatians villain Cruella De Vil made $3.7 million in its fifth weekend.

The PG-13-rated film, which is also available on Disney+ for a $30 premium charge, slid -22.8% from the prior frame. Cruella had a $1,320 per-screen average in 2,820 theaters. The movie’s domestic now total stands at $71.3 million while its international take is $112.5 million, bringing its cumulative worldwide total to $183.8 million.







Making smaller ripples below the top ten were two new indie arrivals:

IFC’s R-rated videogame adaptation, Werewolves Within, debuted in twelfth place with $223,000 in 270 theaters for a $825 per-screen average.

Sony Pictures Classics’ R-rated immigration-drama I Carry You with Me entered the chart in seventeenth place with $20,049 in just four theaters for a $5,012 per-screen average. Neither has opened internationally yet.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/article/ed158336004/?ref_=bo_hm_hp







June 25-27, 2021: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. F9: The Fast Saga $70,000,000
2. A Quiet Place: Part II $6,200,000 / $136,388,366
3. The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard $4,875,000 / $25,873,686
4. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway $4,850,000 / $28,855,098
5. Cruella $3,725,000 / $71,302,235
6. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It $2,920,000 / $59,133,366
7. In the Heights $2,230,000 / $24,161,509
8. Spirit Untamed $1,030,000 / $15,840,910
9. 12 Mighty Orphans $591,917 / $2,293,909
10. Nobody $560,000 / $26,728,470

F9: The Fast Saga Keeps the Pedal to the Metal over 4th of July Weekend with $24M, Beating Out a Trio of New Releases
by Chris Nashawaty - Box Office News
July 4, 2021


F9: The Fast Saga kept the pedal to the metal over the Fourth of July weekend and kept its pole position at the North American box office, outracing a trio of newcomers that included a sequel to The Boss Baby, the latest installment in The Purge franchise, and a buzzy indie based on an epic Twitter thread.

Thanks to its continued box-office success overseas, F9 became the first Hollywood film to roar past the global $500 million mark since the pre-pandemic blockbuster Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.







A week after it came roaring off the starting line with a whiplash-inducing $70 million debut, the tenth chapter in Universal’s muscle-car cycle racked up another $24 million over the three-day holiday frame (it’s estimated to pull in $32.7 million by the end of Monday).

slated to hit multiplexes over the 2020 Memorial Day weekend, F9 was one of the most high-profile tentpoles to be put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic brought the theatrical movie business to a screeching halt more than a year ago. Now it seems as if it may be that same industry’s savior.

F9 unspooled in 4,203 locations and scored a $5,710 per-screen average in its sophomore session. Its total domestic box office after two weeks currently stands at $125.9 million. Overseas, where the film bowed earlier than it did in the U.S., F9 has raked in $374.4 million, bringing its worldwide gross to $500.3 million.







In second place was The Boss Baby: Family Business — a follow-up to Uni’s 2017 kiddie smash, The Boss Baby, again featuring the voice of Alec Baldwin. The PG-rated sequel debuted with $17.3 over its first three days (and is estimated to get its sticky little fingers on $23 million by the end of Monday).

And while that doesn’t quite measure up to the original’s $50.2 million bow back in 2017 (the first film ended up making $528 million worldwide), it’s likely a much more solid roll-out than it seems since the movie also premiered simultaneously on NBCUniversal’s new streaming platform, Peacock, and should convince some new subscribers to sign up.

In its rookie frame, Boss Baby 2 scored a $4,747 per-screen average in 3,644 theaters. To date, it has added a meager $1.5 million from overseas, bringing its global cume to $24.5 million. Audiences gave the film an ‘A’ CinemaScore. Critics, needless to say, did not.







The third of Universal’s top-three finishers, and the holder of third place this weekend, was the latest entry in Blumhouse’s lucrative The Purge franchise, The Forever Purge.

The R-rated dystopian horror sequel scared up a hair under $12.8 million over its first three days (and is estimated to grab $15.9 million by the end of Monday). It marked the lowest debut in the five-film saga — the previous chapter, The First Purge, earned $17.4 million in its first three days back in 2018.

Still, with a budget pegged at just around $18 million, The Forever Purge doesn’t need to score especially massive numbers to make its way into the black. The new film earned a $4,178 per-screen average in 3,051 theaters. It tacked on a little under $3.6 million overseas, bringing its global total to $19.4 million.







In fourth place was the box-office stalwart A Quiet Place: Part II, which is still managing to make some noise with $4.2 million over the first three days of its sixth weekend in multiplexes.

Paramount’s PG-13-rated suspense sequel fell off -31.8% from the previous frame, scoring a $1,495 per-screen average in 2,826 theaters. Its domestic total now stands at $144.4 million. Overseas, the film has added $112.1 million to date, putting its current worldwide total at $257.9 million after the long holiday weekend’s numbers are factored in.







Rounding out the top five was The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, which scored $3 million over the first three days of its third weekend.

The Lionsgate action-thriller dipped -38.2% from the prior session, earning an $892 per-screen average in 3,361 theaters. The R-rated sequel to 2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard now has a combined three-week domestic box-office total of just a little under $31.4 million.

So far, the film has pulled in another $15.6 million from overseas, bringing its cumulative worldwide gross to $47.9 million after the long holiday weekend’s numbers are tallied.







Also of note this weekend was the semi-wide opening of A24’s Zola. A twisty (and twisted) road-movie thriller based on an epic Twitter thread about a pair of strippers (played by Taylour Paige and Riley Keough) who head to Florida where their trip goes haywire the R-rated indie bowed in tenth place with $1.2 million over the three-day weekend (since its debut on Wednesday, it has made $2 million).

Hailed by critics after its premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Zola’s first weekend frame delivered an $837 per-screen average in 1,468 locations. It has not opened internationally yet.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/article/ed393217028/?ref_=bo_hm_hp







July 2-4, 2021: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. F9: The Fast Saga $24,000,000 / $117,103,960
2. The Boss Baby: Family Business $17,300,000
3. The Forever Purge $12,750,000
4. A Quiet Place: Part II $4,225,000 / $144,436,659
5. The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard $3,000,000 / $31,378,167
6. Cruella $2,556,000 / $76,594,984
7. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway $2,250,000 / $34,416,482
8. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It $1,290,000 / $62,225,663
9. In the Heights $1,275,000 / $26,887,024
10. Zola $2,027,252

I cannot figure out why The Fast And The Furious franchise is still continuing when Paul Walker is no longer alive and even after Paul Walker's tragic death the series is still going strong and even has a cartoon series on Netflix. The only reason I think why F9 The Fast Saga is a hit is because of Vin Diesel because he is the star of the Fast And The Furious series and because of that alone makes people want to watch it
Bestie