Universal’s F9 is off to a great start as expected having grossed $7.1M from 3,100 theaters that began showtimes at 7PM. The pic expands to 4,179 theaters today, the widest ever for a film being released during the pandemic.
In more great news: F9 did more business last night than Hobbs & Shaw did in its Thursday previews which were $5.8M at 3,400 theaters, and that’s when 100% of exhibition was open, including Canada. Parts of Canada remained capped with big provinces like Ontario closed until late July.
3-day conservative estimates for F9 are hovering around $60M, but no one will be shocked if it’s north of $70M. While the Justin Lin-directed, and co-scripted movie has the best presales Fandango has seen to date, we don’t know how front-loaded business will be.
Furious 7 holds multiple records for Uni’s F&F series including best domestic Thursday previews of $15.8M, and opening weekend of $147.1M for the series best ever of $355.5M. No one is expecting that kind of business for F9 given the franchise’s age plus Furious 7 served as the cinematic memorial for the late star Paul Walker.
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