F9 tops US box office with B766.5mn in sales
Universal’s F9: The Fast Saga remained at top speed over the US holiday weekend, earning an estimated US$23.8 million (766.5 million baht) to hold its lead in North American box offices, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday.
That total, covering just the first three days of the four-day July 4 holiday weekend, was down sharply from the zoombang-bam action film’s opening total of $70 million.
Still, this ninth installment in the Fast And Furious franchise — starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and John Cena — fended off two strong new challengers. In fact, Universal pulled off a rare hat trick, dominating all three top box-office spots.
That studio’s animated sequel The Boss Baby: Family Business placed second, at $17.3 million. The latest yarn about a can-do “boss baby” who energises — or infuriates — all around him features the voices of Alec Baldwin, Eva Longoria, Jeff Goldblum, Lisa Kudrow and Jimmy Kimmel.
In third was horror film The Forever Purge, headed for a $12.8 million take. This fifth, and purportedly last, in the Purge series is again set in a dystopian near-future where all crime, including murder, is made legal one day a year. Ana de la Reguera and Tenoch Huerta star.
Fourth spot went to Paramount’s A Quiet Place: Part II, at $4.2 million. This was the first weekend since the John Krasinski-directed horror film’s release six weeks ago that it placed out of the top two.
And in fifth was a Lionsgate sequel,
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, at $3 million. The action comedy has Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson and Salma Hayek reprising their roles from 2017’s
The Hitman’s Bodyguard.
As Hollywood claws its way back from the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, studios have yet to release the usual full menu of summer blockbusters. The $70.7 million combined gross of this weekend’s top 12 films was less than half the normal from past July 4 weekends.