2020 became the year that box office milestones simply weren't recognized. The COVID-19 pandemic kneecapped the movie industry in March of last year and from there several tentpole releases were delayed into 2021 and beyond. As movie theaters that were shuttered began reopening again, the box office began to bounce back a bit the ninth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise became one of the first to show healthy signs of life.
I suppose it's only fitting now that the film has just become the highest-grossing movie of the pandemic era after crossing a pretty impressive worldwide box office milestone. In the US, A Quiet Place Part II still holds the domestic title, having taken $144 million since its Memorial Day weekend premiere. F9 is currently in second place after only being on release since June 25th with $125 million, making it almost certain to overtake A Quiet Place 2 as the biggest domestic earner of the year so far within the week. However, with Marvel's Black Widow arriving this weekend, there is a question mark hanging over how long it can hold onto the top spot. According to Forbes, Universal is reporting that F9 has passed $700 million at the global box office which is, needless to say, a record since the pandemic began.
For added context, this is nearly double what the summer's second biggest release, Black Widow, earned worldwide. The Marvel film brought in $367 million, which doesn't factor in the additional $125 million from its simultaneous release on Disney+ Premier Access. For over a year now, the film industry has been struggling to cope with shutdowns and other effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While releases like A Quiet Place Part II, F9, and Black Widow have all broken pandemic box office records and helped instill confidence in the theater-going experience, the surging Delta variant has raised concerns. A recent poll found that audiences are not as confident about returning to theaters now then they were earlier in the year. Breaking things down, Fast 9's global take was propelled by a gross of $203.9 million in China after the film had a record-breaking opening in that market. The ninth installment of The Fast Saga also topped the international box office for five weeks and was number one in the U.S. for two weeks. The Fast Franchise has made $6.59 billion to date for Universal Pictures since the first film was released in 2001.
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. F9 was originally scheduled for worldwide release by Universal Pictures on April 19, 2019, but was delayed several times, first due to the release of Hobbs & Shaw and planned release of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's No Time to Die , and then the COVID-19 pandemic. It premiered in South Korea and released internationally on May 19, 2021, and in the United States on June 25. The film received mixed reviews with praise for the stunts and Lin's direction, but criticism for its unrealistic action sequences and formulaic script.
F9 set several pandemic box office records and grossed over $714 million worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2021. "F9" raced to the box office this weekend — fast becoming the world's biggest release since movie theaters shut their doors in 2020 amid the COVID-19 lockdown. It is also the first movie to pass the milestone since 2019, with Warner Bros. The movie already broke records when it flew past the $100 million mark quicker than A Quiet Place Part II, which was the first movie to reach that domestic milestone since the pandemic hit theaters early last year. The film, which debuted last weekend, earned $70 million, smashed the record of a pandemic-era domestic box office in the US. 'F9' has surpassed the $100 million benchmark, which only two other films during the pandemic — 'A Quiet Place II' and 'Godzilla vs. Kong' — have surpassed so far.
Despite its box office firepower, "F9" is expected to fall short of its franchise predecessors given COVID-era restrictions. Though not catastrophic, that's not ideal for the studio that paid $200 million to produce the film and many, many millions more to market and promote the property on a global scale. In terms of the "Fast" franchise, "F9″ should end its theatrical run closer to the 2019 spinoff "Hobbs & Shaw," which ultimately tallied $173 million in the U.S. and $759 million globally. The most recent films in the core series — 2017's "The Fate of the Furious" and 2015's "Furious 7" — were massive commercial hits with grosses reaching $1.2 billion worldwide and $1.5 billion globally, respectively.
LOS ANGELES — In the strongest sign yet that life is left in movie theaters, "F9" sped to a box office take of $70 million in its first weekend, the biggest opening for a film since the pandemic began, according to studio estimates Sunday. A delayed theatrical release turned out to be the right move for the "Fast & Furious" sequel, the ninth in the franchise's 20-year run. Cinema-goers shelled out a record-breaking $70 million at the domestic box office over its opening weekend — topping the short-lived record held by John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place Part II" which brought in $48.3 million.
It's not exactly a surprise that F9 was able to maintain the first spot at this weekend's holiday box-office, as the new Fast & Furious installment was one of the most-anticipated films of 2021. Even so, as we are still feeling the effects of the pandemic on movie theaters, it's great news that this year's Independence Day (a traditionally big moviegoing weekend in the U.S.) was able to haul an impressive box office compared to 2020. And while F9 might be responsible for the more significant chunk of last weekend's numbers, other titles contribute to these optimistic results. To put things into perspective, the second highest-grossing title to come along since the beginning of last year is Godzilla vs. Kong, which has brought in $467 million to date. 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' was off to a record start at the international box office and also managed to record a good first weekend in the Indian market. Since it touched down in North America on June 25, domestic ticket sales for "F9" have reached $123 million, the second-best box office haul since the onset of COVID-19.
The Paramount Pictures thriller "A Quiet Place Part II," which opened a week prior to "F9," currently holds the title for the highest-grossing movie of the year in the U.S. with $145 million in revenues. Still, "F9" crushed records in its box office debut, collecting $70 million in its inaugural outing on the big screen. Close to a third of F9's global box office has been fueled by $203.9M in China after a record-breaking May opening there. The ninthquel topped the global box office for four weeks, the only pic to do so in 2021.
It topped the international box office for five weeks, and was No. 1 domestically for two weeks. A Quiet Place Part II delivered an estimated $6.3m in international markets, opening in Germany with $880,000 including previews and in Denmark with $160,000 including previews. The film is now playing in 50 territories, representing 87% of the international rollout, and has grossed $122.5m outside North America. On a like-for-like basis, the film is running 10% ahead of the pace set by the original A Quiet Place. Including North America, A Quiet Place Part II has reached $267m – steadily closing the gap with the $341m worldwide total achieved by the original A Quiet Place. F9 swiftly raced to the top of the various VOD platforms upon its PVOD debut.
As part of the deal Comcast cut with AMC , films opening above $50 million on opening weekend would get theatrical windows of 31 days, as opposed to 17 for smaller/non-tentpole flicks. Since F9 opened with $70 million on the weekend of June 25, it only just now dropped on PVOD this past Friday, its 36th day of domestic theatrical release. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the ninth Fast and Furious movie (or the tenth counting Hobbs & Shaw) is currently tops on almost every VOD chart, save for iTunes (which doesn't track PVOD offerings) and Google . F9's record-breaking gross cannot just be attributed to its domestic performance, however, as its run in China netted a total of $216 million.
This was lower than expected since audiences reportedly didn't like the film, which could spell trouble for Fast & Furious 10 releasing in April of 2023. Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be the next major franchise film to test the box office waters. The ninth film in the Fast Saga got off to a promising start when it was released internationally in May.F9 was released in the United States on June 25 and immediately impressed with a $70 million opening weekend. The film accomplished another major milestone the following month when it passed $500 million at the global box office, the first pandemic film to do so. Now, new numbers indicate that the Fast & Furious film has passed yet another major milestone.
"Black Widow," starring Scarlett Johansson, has had a long journey to theaters. Originally slated to come out in May of 2020, the blockbuster was delayed because of the pandemic. Disney ultimately decided to release it "day and date," meaning it came out on more than one platform at the same time. "Black Widow," in theaters and for a $30 rental on its subscription streaming service Disney+. Although not unprecedented for pandemic movie releases, or even for Disney, which did the same for "Cruella," it's the first Marvel movie to attempt the hybrid strategy.
Releases in the coming weeks include Disney and Marvel's "Black Widow" and Warner Bros.' "The Suicide Squad." Studios are using a variety of hybrid release plans. While the time movies spend between theaters and streaming has shrunk, probably permanently, there is an increasing emphasis back on the big screen. It might well be the most ludicrous movie franchise in the history of cinema, but audiences sure do love them some Fast and Furious, and the latest installment, F9, now looks set to smash a box office record. "This weekend showed that people still value the theatrical experience, especially with a series like 'Fast & Furious'," Universal's President of Domestic Distribution Jim Orr told TheWrap. "We knew that if we gave theaters time to reopen, fans would come out to see this film, because the stunts and the thrills that Justin Lin and Vin Diesel and the cast have created were made for the biggest screen possible. The latest film in the record-breaking franchise hit cinemas worldwide this week, coming out in the UK on Thursday and in the States the following day.
It's a different story altogether internationally, where Fast & Furious 9 has sailed past the $700 million mark worldwide – China, followed by the US being its two biggest contributors with $203.9 million and $172.6 million. The other international markets have made up for the remainder of collections. If this were a normal box office climate we would be talking about diminishing returns but this is anything but.
Fast 9 is playing during a time when the box office is far from normal due to the pandemic so the fact that it has made this much money worldwide is a great success. Fast 9 also respected the 45-day theatrical window and did not go streaming or PVOD until that window was cleared. Much like the recent box office success of Free Guy, Fast 9 is another solid example that respecting the theatrical window has led to more box office success for films in the long run. Films that have gone day-and-date theatrical and streaming, have suffered steep declines and have become the victim of increased piracy since high-quality versions of the films are readily available online.
"One needn't look any further than the success of A Quiet Place Part II and this weekend's F9 to demonstrate the box office advantages of a 'theatrical first' release strategy," Comscore's Paul Dergarabedian tells EW. In total, the 4th of July weekend reached $71 million at the box office, a number that should grow at the end of this Monday's observed holiday. While this number is far from the $150 million to $200 million we're used to, as 20% of movie theaters are still closed in the country, and many studios pushed back their blockbusters release date to escape the pandemic's effects, this is still a solid result. In comparison, movie theaters barely brought in $1.5 million in 2020 during the same period.
At the international box office, "F9" has collected $374 million from 50 overseas markets. The film has done especially well in China, with ticket sales in the country amounting to $203 million. Other notable territories include South Korea ($19.3 million), Russia ($18 million) and Mexico ($10.9 million). While "F9's" opening is a positive sign for movie theaters, the industry still has a ways to go to full recovery.
The strength of the theatrical market in the near future could be just as much about legs as solid debuts, according to the Exhibitor Relations media analyst Jeff Bock — meaning "F9's" second weekend could be significant. Landing in second place in the worldwide box office chart is Tencent Pictures' 1921, which tells the story of the founding of the Communist Party in China. The historical drama, which officially opened on July 1 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the party's founding, earned $21.7m for the weekend period, and $45.8m so far, a total that also includes previews from the previous weekend. The short run in China is both normal and somewhat circumstantial (audiences didn't like it and they didn't care less about #Justice4Han). And if F9 hits $683 million, it'll have earned less of its total in China (31.6%) than Fate of the Furious.
Also, of course, credit the film for being one of the few tentpoles to tough it out this summer. When your blockbuster competition is Black Widow, Space Jam 2 and Snake Eyes, well, it's easier to be king. The biggest thread to theaters right now alongside Covid is an industry seemingly desperate to condition consumers to look at even the biggest would-be theatrical blockbusters as streaming-appropriate fare. Does Hollywood really want to explicitly make people who otherwise might have seen A Quiet Place part II in weekend four or seven aware that they can watch it for "free" on Paramount+ after 1.5 months?
Disney and Warner Bros. seem to be treating day-and-date as a temporary solution for a temporary problem, unless Wall Street and a streaming-friendly media that treats tech companies as movie studios convinces them otherwise. The film has, thus far, earned 2.22x its $70 million domestic debut, meaning it is already leggier than Fast & Furious ($155 million from a $71 million launch in 2009). Once it tops $160 million, it'll be leggier than Fate of the Furious ($226 million/$99 million in 2017).
Sure, it may not be a big deal to be leggier than two of the least-liked installments of the franchise, but it shows that the film wasn't more frontloaded by virtue of opening amid a pandemic and with a shorter theatrical window. Fast & Furious 9 has been widely pirated since it began its staggered rollout in May, available on torrent sites since day one. Universal Pictures has further shot itself in the foot by delaying the film over and over, to escape other films . US cinemas are slowly getting back on their feet and to pre-pandemic levels , so a $160 million result isn't the worst outcome for the movie, even if Black Widow is expected to surpass whatever 'pandemic era' records it will have set. Currently, 81% of North American theaters are open, and most are operating at full capacity.
It's the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that a moviegoing weekend has surpassed $100 million. "Hollywood blockbusters continue to gain ground at the box office with each successive release, and that bodes very well for the many films lined up for exclusive worldwide theatrical release this fall and beyond," said Rich Gelfond the CEO of IMAX. Even with an option to watch "Black Widow" at home, audiences went to the movie theater in pandemic record numbers this weekend to catch the first Marvel movie released in two years.
Fast 9 is proving to be one of the films looking to help bring movie theaters back with COVID-19 restrictions easing across the world. New reports from over the holiday weekend emerged of F9 surpassing $500 million at the box office globally, and Ludacris took to Instagram to toast to his cast's latest achievement. That would be a great outcome for Universal, which gambled by releasing the pricey action film at this still relatively early stage in the post-pandemic recovery period.
Studio insiders told TheWrap that Universal is satisfied with its decision to move "F9" back a full year, and then again from Memorial Day weekend to June 25. The additional delay allowed time for more theaters to reopen and for pandemic capacity restrictions to be lifted. In fact, theaters in 44 states and nine of the top 10 North American markets — Toronto excluded — now allow theaters to operate at 100% capacity. Baaghi 3 was the last big grosser before the curtains came down due to the first wave of pandemic. The situation at the box office hasn't quite been rosy even after the reopening late last year , or its resurgence a few days back post the release of Bell Bottom and Chehre.
Yes, a couple of Punjabi films have brought audiences locally, but that's about it. Coming to the business aspect of the film, Fast & Furious 9 will reach the 20 crores milestone. That would be a very sub-optimal performance for the film, which got expected to revive the theatrical business in India. Disappointingly, that hasn't quite happened, and hence the wait continues for a genuine biggie to arrive and make a smashing impact at the box office. The movie which has been dominating the box office seems to be maintaining its position at the top of the domestic box office charts in its second week of release.
However, none of that matters when you've got the power of family, as evidenced by Fast & Furious 9 smashing past $700 million at the global box office. It was already flying high as the only Hollywood blockbuster to be released since the end of 2019 to cross $500 million, and Dominic Toretto and his crew have only continued to blitz pandemic-era records. Fast and Furious 9 India box office collection is considered decent in difficult conditions as the film is not released in Maharastra and HD prints are also available on the pirate website. The ninth movie in the Fast and Furious series, F9, has crossed the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office on Monday, as per Box Office Mojo. This would make it the first Hollywood film since the pandemic began to do so. Fast & Furious 9 is now 40% of the way to matching Fast 8's global total of $1.24bn, which comprised $226m in North America and $1.01bn in international markets.
Matching Fast 7 – which delivered $1.16bn for international, $353m in North America and $1.52bn worldwide – will be even tougher. F9 topped the chart in all its new markets, delivering $3.0m in Spain, the biggest opening of the pandemic excluding previews – despite competing for audiences on Friday with the Spanish football team's quarter final victory in the Euros championship. Mexico was the top holdover international market with $3.8m, taking the total to $18.8m. UK and Ireland is next with $2.8m and a $14.1m total – competing for audiences with England's own Euros football quarter-final victory on Saturday.
Five new territory openings including Spain and Singapore took the country count to 51 for Universal's Fast & Furious 9, with the franchise film delivering an estimated $23.8m in international markets for the July 2-4 weekend, and $24.0m in North America. Coming to the business aspect of the film, Fast & Furious 9 will reach the 20 crores milestone but that's about. That would be a very sub-optimal performance for the film which was expected to revive the theatrical business in India. Disappointingly, that hasn't quite happened and hence the wait continues for a true biggie to arrive and make a smashing impact at the box office. Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue are available through our research services.
