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The latest installment in Universal's
testosterone-fueled franchise kicked off with a massive $162.4
million in eight markets, including China, Korea and Hong Kong.
Those ticket sales easily mark the best start for a Hollywood
blockbuster since COVID-19 hit.
It's an encouraging start to summer movie season, particularly
because revenues weren't far off from what a "Fast" movie would
have generated at the box office in non-pandemic times.
"Moviegoers are eager to come back to theaters when the right
movie is out there," Universal's president of international
distribution Veronika Kwan Vandenberg said. "It's a great movie
for the China market," she adds. "It has a strong fanbase."
Of this weekend's $162 million bounty, $135 million came from
China alone. That ranks as the second-biggest launch for the
series in the country following the eighth entry, 2017's "The
Fate of the Furious" ($184 million). In another notable
milestone, it's the first Hollywood title in two years -- since
Disney's 2019 superhero epic "Avengers: Endgame" -- to debut to
more than $100 million in China.
Elsewhere, "F9" opened to $9.9 million in Korea, as well as $6.2
million in the Middle East and $2.4 million in Hong Kong. With
this weekend's ticket sales, the "Fast" franchise has pushed
past $6 billion globally.
"F9" -- directed by Justin Lin and starring Vin Diesel, Michelle
Rodriguez, John Cena -- is deploying a staggered rollout across
the world as the globe recovers from the pandemic. It touches
down in the U.S. on June 25 and will bow in 60 additional
markets over the summer. Unlike upcoming blockbuster hopefuls,
such as Disney's "Black Widow" and the Warner Bros. musical "In
the Heights," "F9" will only be offered in theaters -- at least
for its first few weekends of release.
It was much quieter at the box office in North America, where
the gruesome horror film "Spiral," action adventure "Wrath of
Man" and wilderness thriller "Those Who Wished Me Dead" presided
over the competition.
Without any new nationwide releases, "Spiral" remained in first
place with $4.5 million from 2,991 screens in its second weekend
of release. The movie, a creepy addition to the "Saw" franchise
that stars Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, has generated $15
million in the U.S. to date.
In second, "Wrath of Man" collected $2.9 million from 3,007
theaters. After three weeks on the big screen, the Jason
Statham-led vigilante flick has amassed $18.8 million.
Ticket sales for "Those Who Wish Me Dead," starring Angelina
Jolie, dipped 35% from its opening weekend. The film brought in
$1.8 million from 3,379 venues between Friday and Sunday,
boosting its total haul to a bleak $5.5 million. The Warner
Bros. movie, like the studio's entire 2021 slate, is currently
playing on HBO Max and will remain on the streaming service for
31 days in total.
Disney's "Raya and the Last Dragon" and the Warner Bros.
tentpole "Godzilla vs. Kong" rounded out the top five on
domestic box office charts. The family friendly "Raya and the
Last Dragon" pulled ever so slightly ahead of "Godzilla vs.
Kong" with $1.6 million in ticket sales, compared to $1.4
million for the latter. "Raya and the Last Dragon," which
initially debuted 12 weeks ago in theaters and on Disney Plus,
has made $48 million at the box office. Meanwhile, "Godzilla vs.
Kong," which is still being offered on HBO Max, is just shy of
the $100 million mark with ticket sales hovering at $97 million.
In the U.S., the box office is expected to ramp up over Memorial
Day weekend as Paramount's nearly silent sequel "A Quiet Place
Part II" and Disney's "Cruella" land in theaters.
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