Box Office: ‘The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’ Targets $15 Million Debut

Gregg Goldstein With films from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bill Murray, Todd Haynes, Leos Carax and others, the Cannes Film Festival, movie theaters and streamers are alive with the sound of music. “It might just be the shuffling of release dates as a result of the pandemic, but 2021 is shaping up to be an embarrassment of riches for fans of movie musicals,” Miranda says.And he should know.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s two new propaganda films topped the box office over their first weekend in theaters, but it appears that the politically correct content may not prove popular enough to drive sales at blockbuster levels.Most of the biggest local blockbusters set to hit China over the rest of the year are propaganda titles.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“F9” has the box office in overdrive. The ninth installment in Universal’s action-packed “Fast and Furious” franchise has surpassed $500 million in global ticket sales, solidifying its place as Hollywood’s biggest theatrical hit of the pandemic era.Other than “Hi, Mom” ($822 million) and “Detective Chinatown 3” ($686 million), which were both produced in China, “F9” is the only movie to cross the $500 million milestone since 2019.

While Sunday numbers are expected to be lower than usual due to 4th of July festivities, Universal projects that its three films will gross a combined $75 million when Monday numbers are included. That would push the overall 4-day total to $101 million, just above the $98.3 million fueled by Paramount’s “A Quiet Place — Part II” on Memorial Day weekend.

The studio boasts that this is the first time a studio has done a podium sweep on the weekend charts since Sony in February 2005 and the first time Universal has achieved it since the release of the Al Pacino thriller “Sea of Love” in September 1989. Such a feat is so uncommon because studios generally space out the releases of their films to avoid having them compete with each other for audience attention.

Ellise Shafer administrator“F9,” the ninth installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, is holding its own at the top of the domestic box office charts in its second week of release.Over the Fourth of July long weekend, the action flick is expected to add another $32.9 million to its gross from 4,203 theaters, raising its cume to a stunning $126 million.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaDreamWorks Animation’s “The Boss Baby: Family Business” and Blumhouse and Universal’s “The Forever Purge” both netted $1.3 million each in Thursday previews.The two sequels, which appeal to vastly different segments of the moviegoing audience, will likely be overshadowed by the second weekend grosses of “F9,” which is expected to earn roughly $28 million over the July 4th holiday.

Universal’s “The Forever Purge,” the fifth and final movie in “The Purge” horror franchise, and the animated family sequel “The Boss Baby: Family Business,” each made $1.3 million at Thursday preview screenings ahead of the 4th of July weekend. Both films figure to perform strongly over the holiday weekend in theaters, and with “F9” still going strongly, there’s a chance Universal can take the top 3 spots at the box office.

Any other year, it wouldn’t be a massive surprise that a ‘Fast & Furious’ film debuted with a huge box office total. But after a year of basically no theatrical releases and no major blockbusters, the fact that “F9” debuted with a $70 million estimated opening weekend is noteworthy.

COVID-19 lockdown.Thus comes an official declaration: “Cinema is back!,” the franchise’s lead thespian, Vin Diesel, has announced in an official statement. A delayed theatrical release turned out to be the right move for the “Fast and Furious” sequel, the ninth in the franchise’s 20-year run.

IFC Film’s Werewolves Within saw the biggest debut in a weekend without many new limited releases.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterThe only thing stronger than family? The box office debut of “F9,” the latest entry in Universal’s “Fast & Furious” saga.After many delays over the course of a year and a half, “F9” opened to a mighty $70 million from 4,179 North American venues. That’s by far the biggest start for a movie at the U.S.

Not only does that top the $47.5 million 3-day opening of “A Quiet Place — Part II” and the $60 million opening of the “Fast & Furious” spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw,” but it also tops the openings of all the 2020 films that became hits before the pandemic, including the $62.5 million start for “Bad Boys for Life.” The $5.5 million grossed by “F9” on IMAX screens is the highest domestic weekend total for the format since “Bad Boys for Life” launched in January 2020.

Ellise Shafer administratorThe ninth installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise is on its way to breaking a pandemic-era domestic box office record with an estimated $68 million debut.The action film, starring Vin Diesel and John Cena, raked in $30 million on Friday alone from 4,179 theaters.

Given the current state of the recovering box office, “F9” was never expected to come close to the $98.7 million launch of its 2017 predecessor, “The Fate of the Furious,” even with the widest release since the pandemic began at 4,179 screens.

As the audience gets ready to witness the battle royal between Vin Diesel and John Cena on the big screen in the US on June 25, the box office pundits have started their predictions for Fast and Furious 9. The action-packed franchise is expected to record the biggest opening day and weekend for a feature film in the US ever since the world has been taken aback by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since the release of Paramount’s “A Quiet Place — Part II” and Disney’s “Cruella” at the end of May, overall numbers have dropped 14-18% each weekend as only one June release — Warner Bros.’ “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” — has posted an opening weekend of over $20 million. This weekend, overall grosses fell 18% to an estimated $47 million, leaving theaters to wait for the release of “F9” next weekend to get business going again.