Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA), had the top three pictures at the weekend box office, with “F9” reigning as the most popular film with American moviegoers for the second week in a row.
What Happened: “F9” grossed $24 million, while “The Boss Baby: Family Business” and “The Forever Purge,” both new Universal releases, grossed $17.3 million and $12.7 million, respectively.
“F9” became the first film since 2019 to surpass $500 million in global ticket sales at the end of the weekend. With a global box office gross of $446 million, AT&T (NYSE: T) subsidiary Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla vs. Kong” fell short of the half-billion-dollar milestone – but “Godzilla vs. Kong” was simultaneously released in cinemas and on streaming, whereas “F9” can only be watched on the big screen.
The success of “F9” also proves that long-running franchises aren’t losing their appeal; the picture is the ninth movie in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, which began 20 years ago. Eight of the top ten films in the United States for the weekend were sequels or reboots of popular franchises.
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What Happens After That: The box office take for “F9″ this weekend was down 66% from its opening weekend, and it confronts stiff competition this weekend as Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS”Black )’s Widow” makes her long-awaited debut in theaters. The Disney+ streaming service will also have “Black Widow” for $29.99.
Some major films, such as Chris McKay’s “The Tomorrow War” starring Chris Pratt from Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Steven Soderbergh’s “No Sudden Move” starring Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro from HBO Max, an AT&T subsidiary, are bypassing U.S. theaters and going straight to streaming for the first time.
Vin Diesel in “F9,” courtesy of Universal Pictures.
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