‘The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’ hits top mark at box office

Angelique Jackson Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson transported audiences back to the late 1960s with a special screening of his new documentary, “Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised),” at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday night.In its first two weeks in theaters, the musical movie about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival (billed as “a Questlove jawn,” paying homage to the director’s Philly roots) has gone on to make more than $1 million at the box office, plus

That is in line with what industry projections had set for the first Marvel film in two years, easily topping the $70 million opening of Universal’s “F9” but opening shy of the $100 million mark and just below the $92.5 million earned by “Spider-Man: Far From Home” in July 2019. As usual, Marvel fans have embraced the film with audience reception showing an A- on CinemaScore and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score to go with an 80% critics score.

Ellise Shafer administratorMarvel’s “Black Widow” is poised to make an $87.8 million debut at the domestic box office, which would best the pandemic-era opening record previously held by “F9.”Having raked in a mighty $39.5 million on Friday from 4,160 theaters, “Black Widow” is set to easily earn another $48 million on Saturday and Sunday, with a final number that may shoot even higher than industry estimates.

Black Widow might be making major bank at the box office for opening weekend.

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.

Refresh for latest…: Universal’s F9 is gearing up to hit the $500M mark globally, a milestone it will cross on Monday as it becomes the first Hollywood movie to do so during the pandemic era, and the first since any studio film originally released during 2019. The Justin Lin-helmed title will also join China’s Hi, Mom and Detective Chinatown 3 as only the third film of any provenance to get there in 2020 and 2021. The worldwide cume through Sunday is $491.5M.

Although the box office has yet to fully recover from the pandemic, at least one studio has good reason to celebrate this Fourth of July weekend. Universal Pictures currently has the top three films at the domestic box office with “F9,” “The Boss Baby: Family Business” and “The Forever Purge,” according to studio estimates Sunday.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAny “Fast” fan knows there’s nothing stronger than family. But the second weekend at the box office for “F9: The Fast Saga” will test the potency of the film’s big-screen appeal, as well as lingering skepticism from moviegoers as the cinema industry emerges from the pandemic.The ninth entry in Universal’s “Fast & Furious” saga opened last weekend to $70 million in North America, marking the best start for a Hollywood movie in more than a year.

After raising the bar on what a movie can open to during the pandemic with F9‘s $70M weekend, Universal is adding a one-two wide release punch to the weekend with the debut of two titles geared at two different demos: DreamWorks Animation’s The Boss Baby: Family Business which is set to do $15M+ and Blumhouse’s The Forever Purge which is looking at $10M+ over 3-days.

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.

Rebecca Davis editorStar-powered propaganda flick “1921” hit number one at the Chinese box office this week, bringing in $11.6 million from pre-screenings ahead of its July 1 debut, according to Maoyan data. The historical drama debuted earlier this month as the opening night title of the Shanghai Intl.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorVin Diesel had plenty to celebrate on Saturday night.Not only did he place the winning bid of $70,000 for two court side seats at a Clippers game and a Breitling watch at a benefit for Charlize Theron‘s Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP), but “F9: The Fast Saga” broke the weekend box office record since the onset of the pandemic.

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.

Refresh for latest…: International box office markets this weekend were again rife with holdovers doing solid business, while also awaiting a new major title to swing summer into full gear. Lionsgate/Millennium’s Stateside champ, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard was the only signifiant new opener this session with an estimated $7.8M in its debut in 21 overseas markets. Coupled with the domestic five-day launch, the global total is now $24.8M.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is a hit!

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” nabbed the top spot on box office charts, debuting with $11.6 million from 3,331 U.S. venues over the weekend.The Lionsgate movie, a sequel to the 2017 action comedy “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” opened in theaters on Wednesday and has collected $17 million to date.Starring Salma Hayek, Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L.

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.

Ellise Shafer administratorLionsgate’s “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” is heading toward a $10 million weekend debut at the domestic box office, with an expected gross of $15 million in its first five days in release.The sequel to 2017’s “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” which opened on Wednesday, took in $3 million from 3,331 locations on Friday. This puts the film on track with previous estimates, which predicted the movie would make a solid $15 million through Sunday.

The film is a sequel to “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson, which earned a $21 million opening in August 2017 and went on to gross $75 million domestically and $176 million globally against a $69 million budget.