China Box Office: ‘The Father’ Lumbers to Eleventh With $1.21 Million

That is in line with what industry projections had set for the first Marvel film in two years, easily topping the $70 million opening of Universal’s “F9” but opening shy of the $100 million mark and just below the $92.5 million earned by “Spider-Man: Far From Home” in July 2019. As usual, Marvel fans have embraced the film with audience reception showing an A- on CinemaScore and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score to go with an 80% critics score.

Ellise Shafer administratorMarvel’s “Black Widow” is poised to make an $87.8 million debut at the domestic box office, which would best the pandemic-era opening record previously held by “F9.”Having raked in a mighty $39.5 million on Friday from 4,160 theaters, “Black Widow” is set to easily earn another $48 million on Saturday and Sunday, with a final number that may shoot even higher than industry estimates.

Black Widow might be making major bank at the box office for opening weekend.

“Black Widow,” Marvel’s superhero film starring Scarlett Johansson, made $13.2 million from Thursday box office previews that began at 5:00 p.m.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“Black Widow” marks the return of Marvel movies to cinemas after a long and arduous COVID era absence. There’s clearly been a lot of pent-up demand for all things MCU.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Black Widow,” the Disney and Marvel standalone superhero adventure starring Scarlett Johansson, launched internationally on Wednesday and collected $4.9 million in ticket sales from 11 overseas markets.The comic book adaptation, the first Marvel movie to grace cinemas in two years, had the strongest start in the United Kingdom, where it generated $1.7 million on its first day of release.

Gregg Goldstein With films from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bill Murray, Todd Haynes, Leos Carax and others, the Cannes Film Festival, movie theaters and streamers are alive with the sound of music. “It might just be the shuffling of release dates as a result of the pandemic, but 2021 is shaping up to be an embarrassment of riches for fans of movie musicals,” Miranda says.And he should know.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s two new propaganda films topped the box office over their first weekend in theaters, but it appears that the politically correct content may not prove popular enough to drive sales at blockbuster levels.Most of the biggest local blockbusters set to hit China over the rest of the year are propaganda titles.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“F9” has the box office in overdrive. The ninth installment in Universal’s action-packed “Fast and Furious” franchise has surpassed $500 million in global ticket sales, solidifying its place as Hollywood’s biggest theatrical hit of the pandemic era.Other than “Hi, Mom” ($822 million) and “Detective Chinatown 3” ($686 million), which were both produced in China, “F9” is the only movie to cross the $500 million milestone since 2019.

Refresh for latest…: Universal’s F9 is gearing up to hit the $500M mark globally, a milestone it will cross on Monday as it becomes the first Hollywood movie to do so during the pandemic era, and the first since any studio film originally released during 2019. The Justin Lin-helmed title will also join China’s Hi, Mom and Detective Chinatown 3 as only the third film of any provenance to get there in 2020 and 2021. The worldwide cume through Sunday is $491.5M.

While Sunday numbers are expected to be lower than usual due to 4th of July festivities, Universal projects that its three films will gross a combined $75 million when Monday numbers are included. That would push the overall 4-day total to $101 million, just above the $98.3 million fueled by Paramount’s “A Quiet Place — Part II” on Memorial Day weekend.

The studio boasts that this is the first time a studio has done a podium sweep on the weekend charts since Sony in February 2005 and the first time Universal has achieved it since the release of the Al Pacino thriller “Sea of Love” in September 1989. Such a feat is so uncommon because studios generally space out the releases of their films to avoid having them compete with each other for audience attention.

Ellise Shafer administrator“F9,” the ninth installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, is holding its own at the top of the domestic box office charts in its second week of release.Over the Fourth of July long weekend, the action flick is expected to add another $32.9 million to its gross from 4,203 theaters, raising its cume to a stunning $126 million.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaDreamWorks Animation’s “The Boss Baby: Family Business” and Blumhouse and Universal’s “The Forever Purge” both netted $1.3 million each in Thursday previews.The two sequels, which appeal to vastly different segments of the moviegoing audience, will likely be overshadowed by the second weekend grosses of “F9,” which is expected to earn roughly $28 million over the July 4th holiday.

Any other year, it wouldn’t be a massive surprise that a ‘Fast & Furious’ film debuted with a huge box office total. But after a year of basically no theatrical releases and no major blockbusters, the fact that “F9” debuted with a $70 million estimated opening weekend is noteworthy.

COVID-19 lockdown.Thus comes an official declaration: “Cinema is back!,” the franchise’s lead thespian, Vin Diesel, has announced in an official statement. A delayed theatrical release turned out to be the right move for the “Fast and Furious” sequel, the ninth in the franchise’s 20-year run.

Rebecca Davis editorStar-powered propaganda flick “1921” hit number one at the Chinese box office this week, bringing in $11.6 million from pre-screenings ahead of its July 1 debut, according to Maoyan data. The historical drama debuted earlier this month as the opening night title of the Shanghai Intl.

IFC Film’s Werewolves Within saw the biggest debut in a weekend without many new limited releases.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorVin Diesel had plenty to celebrate on Saturday night.Not only did he place the winning bid of $70,000 for two court side seats at a Clippers game and a Breitling watch at a benefit for Charlize Theron‘s Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP), but “F9: The Fast Saga” broke the weekend box office record since the onset of the pandemic.