F9 fast and furiously takes top spot at the box office breaking pandemic records
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Move out of the way, F9 is fast and furiously taking over the box office with an estimated $70 million debut heralding the biggest opener of the pandemic era. The Vin Diesel-led film is also the highest-grossing opening weekend since 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
A Quiet Place Part II holds steady in second place with an estimated $6.2 million, followed by The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard ($4.875 million), Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway ($4.850 million), and rounding out the top 5 is Disney's Cruella ($4 million).
"One needn't look any further than the success of A Quiet Place Part II and this weekend's F9 (that have posted to the top two opening weekends in theaters of the pandemic era) to demonstrate the box office advantages of a 'theatrical first' release strategy," Comscore's Paul Dergarabedian tells EW. "Of course same day and date releases like Godzilla Vs. Kong and Cruella, among others, enjoyed success as well, but there is no denying that as audience hesitation to go into public space decreases, the potential for movie theater box office revenue generation increases."
He adds, "Movie fans over the past many weeks have increasingly demonstrated their willingness to venture back into theaters for the undeniably powerful in-communal and immersive experience that only the big screen can provide."
Currently, 80 percent of North American theaters are open for business.
Universal Pictures
F9 is the ninth installment of the Fast & Fast Furious franchise with Justin Lin returning to the helm as director. Diesel's Dominic Toretto is begrudgingly reunited with his estranged younger brother Jakob (John Cena) who thrives off chaos. And while Jakob is focused on stepping out of his sibling's shadow, Han (Sung Kang) makes a shocking return from the dead.
EW gave the film a B- saying, "Every other ongoing movie series is based on some kind of something: fantasy novels, comics, residual George Lucas wonder fumes, toys, the extremely dubious argument that there should be more than two Alien movies. In contemporary franchise Hollywood, the best way to be successful now is to have already been successful a generation ago. That's not very American, even if it's how America works. So I will forever cherish how an immortal car family became a billion-dollar industry by sheer force of Diesel will. This saga always blazes a new trail, even when it takes a wrong turn. But how will you ever fly if you don't try driving off a cliff?"
The action-packed drama rated slightly higher with Cinemascore viewers who gave the film a B+.
Check out the June 25-27 numbers below:
F9 - $70 million
A Quiet Place Part II - $6.2 million
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard- $4.875 million
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway- $4.850 million
Cruella - $4 million
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It- $3 million
In the Heights - $2.2 million
Spirit Untamed - $1 million
12 Might Orphans- $600k
Nobody - $600k
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