‘F9’ Hits $100M In Pandemic Record, Uni Grips B.O. With ‘Boss Baby 2’ & ‘Forever Purge’ – Deadline

UPDATED, Friday Midday: Refresh for updates Universal’s troika grip on the weekend box office is as follows:

1. F9 (Uni) 4,203 theaters (+24), Fri $7.5M (-75%)/3-day $22.2M (-68%)/4-day: $30.4M/Total: $123.4M/ Wk 2
2. Boss Baby: Family Business (Uni) 3,640  theaters, Fri $6.8M/3-day $17.5M/4-day and total $23.2M/Wk 1
3. Forever Purge (Uni) 3,051 theaters , Fri $4.4M/3-day $10M /4-day and total $12.5M/Wk 1

F9 is crossing the $100M mark in eight days, making it the fastest movie to cross that mark during the pandemic, besting A Quiet Place Part II‘s 15-day journey to that milestone. Note the above figures can change as we go throughout the weekend. Purge Forever looks to be hitting its 3-day projection spot-on with Boss Baby 2 ahead of its $15M 3-day projection.  Remember that title is also available on the Peacock streaming service. Eighty percent of the U.S./Canadian exhibition’s 5,88K theaters are open and operating.

Forty-four states are allowing cinemas to operate without capacity restrictions. Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington are still exercising distancing guidelines. Ontario, home of Canada’s cinema hub Toronto, is still closed until late July, still TBD. Regal is reopening Arclight Sherman Oaks in LA County on July 7, I hear. Harkins has increased its chain capacities to 100%.

We’ll update you as we have more throughout the weekend.

UPDATED, Friday AM: Universal had not one but two wide-release previews Thursday night as they head into the four-day Independence Day weekend, with both DreamWorks Animation’s The Boss Baby: Family Business, and Blumhouse’s The Forever Purge grossing $1.3 million apiece.

Those looking for more technicality: Boss Baby 2 took in $1.31M at 2,700 theaters from shows which began at 4 p.m., while Forever Purge grossed $1.33M from 2,550 from shows that started at 7 p.m.. Boss Baby 2 will expand to 3,640 theaters and is eyeing a $15M-plus start, while Forever Purge at 3,051 is hoping for at least $10M+ over three days. July 4th will not be a good day at the box office, so looking for a down Sunday as people make their way to holiday celebrations, barbeques, etc.

Together with the second weekend of F9, which is looking to make around $28M, Universal will own the top three spots at the box office; a first for a major studio since Sony during February 11-13, 2005 with Hitch, Boogeyman and Are We There Yet?.

F9 led all movies Thursday with $4.94M, down 2% from Wednesday at 4,179 theaters. That pus the Justin Lin-directed sequel’s first week at $93.1M.

Boss Baby 2 was shy of its first installment in regards to Thursday previews, with the 2017 installment making $1.5M from 2,700 locations that began at 5 p.m. back on March 30, 2017. That yielded a $15.6M opening day and $50.2M weekend when DWA had a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox. The sequel is also available on the top two subscriber pay tiers of Uni’s streaming service Peacock; those in distribution circles aren’t expecting the service to steal a lot of box office bucks as it’s still nascent. Peacock’s number of subscribers in its entirety for pay and ad-supported subscribers was at 42M for Q1 2021, up from 33M the previous quarter.

Critics aren’t fans of Boss Baby 2 at 49% on Rotten Tomatoes, but they weren’t fans of the first movie which was blemished at 53% Rotten.

Forever Purge‘s preview money is the lowest of the franchise — what do you expect, it’s the fifth movie. In order, the Purge series preview cash is as follows: 2013’s The Purge ($3.7M Thursday night, 10 p.m. start), 2014’s Purge Anarchy ($2.6M, midnight Thursday start), 2016’s Purge: Election Year ($3.64M, Thursday night) and 2018’s The First Purge ($2.5M, Tuesday night at 7 p.m.). First Purge and Purge: Election Year opened over the July 4th holiday frame. First Purge, which opened on a Wednesday, did $17.3M over three days, $31.2M over five days. The very first Purge, released in 2013, owns the franchise’s stateside opening record at $34M. Purge Election Year debuted to $31.5M three-day and $36.1M over four days. Purge Anarchy opened to $29.8M.

Forever Purge‘s Rotten Tomato score at 50% Rotten is in the same vicinity as its predecessors, though better than the initial Purge (39%). Other RT scores for Purges are Anarchy (57%), and Election Year and First Purge (both 56%).

A24’s Zola in its second day at the box office took in $262,000 at 1,468 theaters, down 48% from Wednesday’s $505K (which included Tuesday night previews), for a running total of $797,300.

Comscore called the total weekend for all films last weekend at $98.15M, the highest so far during the pandemic (since mid-March 2020). That was all on account of F9‘s record $70M debut during Covid. The expectation is that we’ll finally cross $100M for all films next weekend when Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow enters the cage.