By Chris Kavan - 07/14/21 at 11:50 PM CT
An impressive MPAA ratings updates yields surprisingly low results, as I must scramble once again to find something to cover. Luckily the box office provided much more fireworks as Black Widow dominated the weekend and set a new pandemic-era record for its opening weekend.
It was pretty much expected that Black Widow would set a new record when it opened and it did so in spectacular fashion, with and $80.3 million opening weekend, easily topping F9's $70 million opening and proving once again that the MCU is a force to be reckoned with. Scarlett Johansson should have gotten her own film much earlier in my opinion but, hey, better late than never. Both critics and audiences seemed happy with the results with an 80% Fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an equally impressive "A-" Cinemascore from audiences. The last time the MCU was in theaters was back in 2019 when Spider-Man: Far from Home opened with $92.6 million.
And Disney, which has been a bit quiet on its streaming numbers, was in a much better mood this time around, as Black Widow also premiered on Disney+ as a $30 premium titles where it raked in an additional $60 million. The film also brought in $78 million from overseas from 46 territories with one major market missing: China - and, with its availability on Disney+, the film has already been pirated from here to kingdom come meaning if it does open in China, expect its numbers to be muted. That may be a big blow, but it should weather that storm and wind up making a lot of money worldwide anyways. And the MCU isn't slowing down this year with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings dropping in early September - less than two months away.
With Black Widow lapping up audiences, F9 took a 50% hit, dropping to second with $11.4 million. That gives the film a still-mighty $141.88 million total and it should hit that $150 million mark by next weekend. It has also earned over $400 million overseas and should be able to chug along through the rest of July and even well into August.
Coming in the third-place position was The Boss Baby: Family Business, taking a 44.5% hit and adding another $8.87 million to its total, which now stands at nearly $35 million. It still has little international presence with a mere $1.7 million overseas.
In fourth place, The Forever Purge dipped 43.1% and took in $7.1 million, giving the horror film a new $27.8 million total. It likewise has only a light international total, adding an additional $7.4 million to the total.
Rounding out the top five, the venerable A Quite Place Part II, now in its 7th week out, dipped a light 23% (not the best hold, surprisingly as Cruella, in sixth, only suffered a .7% dip) and added $3.15 million - enough for the film to cross the $150 million mark with $150.8 million - beating F9 to the punch - and enjoy and international total of $280 million to date.
Next week LeBron James and some animated friends drop by for Space Jam: A New Legacy, but I have a feeling they won't be able to top Black Widow.
Onto our regularly-scheduled ratings bulletin which, as I mentioned, is impressive with its quantity but once again lack a bit in quality. In fact, I had to stretch a bit and pick the most interesting limited release films (that may expand to wide) and chose a stealthily-made Neill Blomkamp horror film and a coupon-focused comedy. I mean, if you want to talk complete opposites - well, here we go.
Talking about Blomkamp, I've mostly enjoyed his output with District 9 still being amazing, Elysium was decent but Chappie was a big disappointment. That being said, while he's not ditching the sci-fi element, he looks to take a much bigger step towards horror with Demonic. Blomkamp actually made this film in secret during the Covid-19 pandemic in Canada - much like Don't Breathe 2 - and it stars Carly Pope as a young woman who has a long and troubled history with her mother, played by Nathalie Boltt, Based on the trailer, it appears as though she goes into some kind of VR therapy - or some kind of virtual space anyway - but it also unleashed something terrifying - demonic even - into her life. There is definitely some kind of religious element at play here but the trailer is vague enough that I'm not sure how it comes into play. In any case, the entity looks suitably frightening and the film has piqued my interest. Rated R for language, some violence and bloody images.
If blood and trauma aren't up your alley, perhaps you'd like to spend some time with Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as they begin a criminal empire based on... coupons. That's right, you're about to enjoy Queenpins. And before you laugh away the premise apparently a scam coupon ring is worth $40 million - but don't worry, the law is on their tail, represented by the one-two punch of Vince Vaughn and Paul Walter Hauser. People also along from this romp include Bebe Rexha, Joel McHale, Stephen Root, Jack McBrayer and Dayo Okeniyi, Don't ask me exactly how this scam plays out, but I'm sure it's going to fun finding out. Rated R for language throughout.
Those are really the two best films out the rather long MPAA Ratings Bulletin - but you can check out all the rest below:
BLOOD BROTHERS: MALCOLM X AND MUHAMMAD ALI
Rated PG13 for disturbing images, thematic elements and some strong language.
C'MON C'MON
Rated R for language.
THE CONSERVATION GAME
Rated PG-13 for some thematic material.
CYRANO
Rated PG-13 for some strong violence, thematic and suggestive material, and brief language.
DEMONIC
Rated R for language, some violence and bloody images.
EVEN IN DREAMS
Rated PG for some language and a suggestive reference.
FRESH
Rated R for strong and disturbing violent content, some bloody images, language throughout, some sexual content and brief graphic nudity.
THE HUMANS
Rated R for some sexual material and language.
INTO THE LOST DESERT
Rated PG for brief language.
NEEDLE IN A TIMESTACK
Rated R for some language.
NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE
Rated R for some strong violence, grisly images, and language.
QUEENPINS
Rated R for language throughout.
THE SURVIVALIST
Rated R for violence and language.
TANGO SHALOM
Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material and brief drug use.
THAT'S AMOR
Rated PG-13 for some sexual material and brief strong language.
VIOLET
Rated R for language throughout and some sexual references.
