By Chris Kavan - 06/30/21 at 08:22 PM CT
While the update is a bit on the meh side once again this week, the box office got a nitro-powered boost from F9, which has already proven a hit overseas. Vin Diesel and the rest of the family kick it into high hear - and even more ridiculous situations (a car in space you say... why not?) but it made for some much-needed fireworks at the box office even as July 4th looms - along with MCU title Black Widow.
Revving up the box office in a major way, F9 came roaring into the box office after a stream of quiet weeks following the release of A Quiet Place Part II. With a $70 million weekend, F9 has taken the crown from A Quiet Place Part II to become the highest-opening film of the pandemic era - easily topping the $47.5 million of that film. F9 is biggest opening since The Rise of Skywalker back in 2019 - and its $5.5 million IMAX gross is the biggest since Bad Boys for Life in 2020.
F9 has a lot going for it, Justin Lin returns to direct, Jordana Brewster returns (as does another familiar face from the Fast series - no spoilers here) joining Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodrigues, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel and returning villain Charlize Theron. John Cena joins the fun as a previously unmentioned brother of Dom. The film still has ridiculous, over-the-top stunts and fight scenes - but that's all part of the fun. Critics were less than enthused (59% on Rotten Tomatoes) but audiences were more forgiving with a well-rounded "B+" Cinemascore. The film has already earned over $335 million overseas - meaning it now has a combined $405 million worldwide and is now the fifth highest-earning franchise of all time.
This is only going to have light competition over the 4th of July holiday frame, so I expect it to continue to dominate the box office - until the MCU drops Black Widow on the 9th. Still, a total above $175 million seems likely at this point - we'll see how far it can go.
The rest of the box office played out probably more or less as you would expect. A Quiet Place Part II dipped about 32% to land in second place with $6.2 million. The film continues to play strong even after five weeks in theaters and with an impressive total of $136.3 million - and $150 million may be within reach. It's worldwide total is just shy of $250 million at this point, so I think it's going to wind up just fine.
Coming in at the third position, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard shed over 57% of its audience for a $4.85 million weekend. It managed to just cross the $25 million mark for a new $25.8 million total. It has earned an additional $5.5 million overseas for a remarkably "meh" $31.4 million global total.
The family-friendly winner for the week was Peter Rabbit 2, dipping 21.5% and nabbing a $4.77 million weekend. That brings its total up to $28.77 million but looks more impressive overseas with $79 million to date for a nice enough global total of $107.9 million.
Rounding out the top five was an edgier family title, Disney's Cruella, which came in with $3.8 million, but had the best hold in the top 10 with just a 21.1% dip. The film has earned $71.3 million stateside as it approaches that $75 million mark. It has earned over $112 million international for a well-rounded global total of $183.8 million.
Outside the top five the most impressive feat came from Bob Odenkirk's Nobody, which, for some reason, enjoyed a massive +3,607.6% jump despite losing 192 theaters and only playing in 115. It went from 22nd to 9th place and enjoyed the best per-theater average behind F9 with $5,172 per-theater and a $594,880 weekend (raising its total to $26.7 million). All this while tearing up the streaming charts as well. Plus, I hear a sequel is on the way.... how long until we get a John Wick/Nobody crossover. Make it happen people!
This coming week brings us The Forever Purge along with Zola (which went wide as of today) and The Boss Baby: Family Business. Still, I think F9 will have no trouble powering through the competition for at least another week.
It has been a rough couple of weeks if you want some ratings of not from the MPAA and this week does little to alleviate the problem with but a single wide release. Said wide release is the third entry in the steamy young adult romance "After" series - After We Fell. Yay, I guess?
Look, I'm not much into the romance genre and as I get older, that's especially true for anything featuring young people. And yet, here we are, somehow a person's fanfic turned into best-selling novels has now turned into a blockbuster film franchise. Kudos to Anna Todd - I bet she especially would never have envisioned this when she started writing. First was After, then came After We Collided and now we have After We Fell, which once again follows Tessa (Josephine Langford) and bad boy Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) as they try to make their relationship work but this time family drama and revelations seek to break down all they have built up. Some casting shakeups as Mira Sorvino take over for Selma Blair as Carol Young (likely due to Blair's well-publicized multiple sclerosis diagnosis) - while Arielle Kebbel takes over for Candace King as Kimberley and Chance Perdono replaces Shane Paul McGhie as Landon. Also of note, this was filmed back-to-back with the final film in the series (though apparently a prequel and another sequel film are in the works) After Ever Happy in Bulgaria - taking over for Georgia as it was deemed much safer during the Covid-19 pandemic. Whatever the case, this college romance-turned family drama has never caught my eye and I don't think I'm likely to jump on the bandwagon now. But fans - I guess you have something to look forward to. Rated R for sexual content and language.
That's the big reveal for this week's MPAA Ratings Bulletin, but you can check out the full release below:
AFTER WE FELL
Rated R for sexual content and language.
JOE BELL
Rated R for language including offensive slurs, some disturbing material and teen partying.
JOHN AND THE HOLE
Rated R for language.
MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY
Rated PG-13 for disturbing/violent images and thematic elements.
NEVER BACK DOWN 4
Rated R for violence and language throughout.
SON OF MONARCHS
Rated R for language.
ZONE 414
Rated R for violence, disturbing images, language, some drug use and nudity.
