‘Hobbs & Shaw’ not as fast and furious but still No. 1

The first spinoff of the 18-year-old “Fast & Furious” franchise, “Hobbs & Shaw,” sped away with $180 million in its worldwide debut, including $60 million domestically — a strong opening that dethroned “The Lion King” after a two-week reign at No. 1 but couldn’t match the box office pace of recent “Fast & Furious” films.

“Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” was crafted as a buddy-movie left turn for the car-mad franchise. It teams two franchise regulars, Dwayne Johnson’s federal agent Luke Hobbs and mercenary Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), for an adventure outside the previous eight films. Those will resume in May with “Fast & Furious 9.”

The deviation came with a slight risk for Universal Pictures. The “Fast & Furious” films have developed into one of the most bankable series in Hollywood. The last two entries each grossed more than $1 billion. “The Fate of the Furious” took in $1.2 billion in 2017. “Furious 7” made $1.5 billion in 2015.

The opening for “Hobbs & Shaw,” while right on expectations, is the smallest domestic debut for a “Fast & Furious” film since 2006’s “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.”

“The Lion King” slid to second in its third weekend with $38.5 million. The Disney remake crossed $1 billion worldwide, becoming the fourth Disney movie this year to do so.

In its second weekend of release, Quentin Tarantino’s 1969 fable “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” held strong with $20 million.