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Source: Box Office Mojo
Recovering from a global pandemic is rarely an easy task, especially when an industry is as big as the business of theatrically released films, but that has not stopped Hollywood from attempting such a comeback. Throughout 2021, less than a year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, several major studios have slowly started to bring their most high-profile productions back to the big screen, and while the results so far may not be quite as respectable as they might be in a world where the Coronavirus was a non-issue, the success of certain films has created the impression that most moviegoers are ready to return to theaters. Among the first of such films was the Warner Brothers’ monster mash-up “Godzilla vs. Kong”, which took in over $30 million during its opening weekend and would soon go on to be the earliest released film to cross the $100 million mark domestically. A few months later, during Memorial Day weekend, Paramount’s horror sequel “A Quiet Place Part II” was even more lucrative, making over $50 during the holiday weekend and soon becoming the highest-grossing film in the United States so far. Most recently however, Universal took its own gamble when bringing one of its blockbusters exclusively to theaters, and if the most recent box office is any indication, the gamble seems to be paying off quite well.
Released on June 25th, “F9”, the most recent installment of Universal’s highly successful “Fast and the Furious” franchise, opened to a total of around $70 million over the three-day weekend period. This is more than enough to allow the film to have the highest-grossing opening weekend so far in the year 2021, surpassing the total “A Quiet Place Part II” made over a similar amount of time by over $20 million. It’s also the largest amount that any film has made over its opening weekend since “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” all the way back in December of 2019 (a time span ranging just over an entire year-and-a-half). Admittedly, the revenue “F9” received over the weekend is slightly lower than what the franchise’s previous official installment, “The Fate of the Furious” made when it first opened in 2017 (approximately $99 million), but that film didn’t have to contend with a global pandemic, so a lower opening weekend total for “F9” is by no means a disappointment for Universal. In fact, the film making more than what franchise spin-off “Hobbs and Shaw” earned back in 2019 before the pandemic (around $60 million) proves just how much there is a demand for this series.
Of course, anyone who had been paying attention to the performance of “F9” before coming out in the United States should not be the least bit surprised by how well it’s doing domestically so far. The film had already been released in a total of eight international markets, including China and South Korea, first premiering last month on May 19th. Over the course of the initial five-day period of its release, the film debuted to $163 million from ticket sales in these eight countries, giving it not only the largest international opening for any blockbuster since the beginning of the pandemic, but also the second largest international opening of any film released during the month of May, trailing only 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War” (which had the advantage of being released in over thirty countries upon its premiere, making the achievement of “F9” all the more impressive.”
Speaking of Marvel superhero movies, the next test for the American box office (as well as the worldwide box office in general) will come on July 9th with the release of the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Black Widow”. Although not the first film Disney has released in theaters this year (with the animated “Raya and the Last Dragon” and the live-action re-imagining “Cruella” coming out several months prior), it is easily the film that Disney is banking on the most when it comes to bringing in audiences and millions in ticket revenue. With the film being the latest chapter in what has become the most successful film franchise of all time, there’s most likely a huge audience waiting eagerly to see the film and find out where the overall narrative the MCU has constructed will be going from here. If there is one thing that could keep “Black Widow” from receiving the largest opening weekend box office though, it would most likely be its simultaneous release on Disney+ (not unlike the aforementioned “Raya” and “Cruella”). Although the $30 surcharge may be too steep for some to watch through streaming, there’s still a good chance that the film being available for in-home viewing may prevent the film from reaching its highest ticket revenue possible. Still, with industry analysts currently predicting an opening weekend anywhere between $60-95 million, there doesn’t seem to be much worry about how “Black Widow” will do when it comes out on July 9th.
In the meantime though, apart from a handful of small releases, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of “F9” in its mission to dominate the box office for at least the next few weeks. As impressive as its opening weekend is however, there are some factors that could keep it from having a long shelf life when it comes to its theatrical exhibition. For one thing, the film’s critical reaction has been relatively mixed, as evidenced by a 59% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Cinemascore has given the film a B+ rating, a decent score, but not one that is usually associated with admirable long-term performance. Then there’s the matter of how it performed during its second week at the international box office, which saw “F9” take in over 80% less than what it received during its opening week. There’s no guarantee that the film will see a similar tumble during its second week at the domestic box office (especially with so little competition), but when taking all of these factors into consideration, it’s understandable for there to be some concern.
Still, if there’s one thing not to be concerned about, it’s the box office as a whole. Between the success of “Godzilla vs. Kong”, “A Quiet Place Part II”, and now “F9”, the big summer blockbuster is only getting closer and closer to a comeback, and with “Black Widow” and several other films on the verge of their debut, that comeback is all but inevitable.
