Box Office: ‘F9’ Reigns Over July 4th Weekend as ‘Boss Baby 2,’ ‘Zola’ Start Strong

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Actor Vin Diesel attends the world premiere of the film “F9: The Fast Saga” at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 18 June 2021. REUTERS / Mario Anzuoni / File Photo

LOS ANGELES, July 4th (Variety.com) – It’s not going to be a weekend for the record books, but this year’s July 4th holiday box office is a huge improvement on the 2020 edition.

The box office boost is thanks to a trio of new films, the kid-friendly “The Boss Baby: Family Business”, the gruesome thriller “The Forever Purge” and the satirical comedy “Zola”, each of which appeals to a completely different audience. A number of holdovers, namely “F9: The Fast Saga” and “A Quiet Place Part II”, also support domestic revenue.

Despite three nationwide new releases, “F9” triumphed again over the competition and took first place in the box office charts. The ninth entry in Universal’s “Fast and Furious” saga added $ 24 million over the weekend, a 66% decrease from when it first appeared. “F9” was expected to end the holidays on Monday at $ 32.7 million, bringing its domestic balance to $ 125.8 million.

In a rare feat, Universal Pictures held the top three spots on the North American charts. In second place, the studio’s animated adventure “The Boss Baby 2” garnered $ 17.36 in theaters in the first three days and is expected to end the extended four-day weekend with $ 23.07 million in ticket sales . The production of the follow-up film with a voice by Alec Baldwin, James Marsden and Amy Sedaris cost $ 82 million.

While “The Boss Baby: Family Business” is a solid start into pandemic times, it’s a drastic drop from the first film. The 2017 film “The Boss Baby” made its debut at $ 50 million and closed its box office at $ 175 million in the US and $ 527 million worldwide. Unlike the original, “The Boss Baby 2” can not only be seen in the cinema. It also plays on Peacock, the newly launched online platform NBCUniversal, to increase subscribers and compete in the streaming wars against Disney Plus, HBO Max, and Netflix.

Third place, The Forever Purge, the newest installment in Universal and Blumhouse’s dystopian horror franchise, landed $ 12.75 million over the weekend and is expected to reach $ 15.86 million in sales by Monday. While these numbers are in line with industry expectations, they mark the lowest debut in the long-running and commercially successful R-rated series. “Purge” films typically open $ 20 million to $ 30 million. Overseas, The Forever Purge grossed $ 3.6 million in 22 international markets for a total of $ 16.3 million worldwide. At $ 18 million, however, The Forever Purge shouldn’t have much of a problem making a profit in theaters.

At the indie box office, A24’s acclaimed dark comedy “Zola” started with a hefty 2.4 million US dollars from 1,468 cinemas. The film, directed by Janicza Bravo and inspired by an epic Twitter thread about a road trip to Florida taking a wild turn, opened on Wednesday and sold out in front of sold out audiences at art house events in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin played. Taylour Paige and Riley Keough star in the film, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Feeling “Zola” would be an attractive draw on the big screen, A24, the studio behind indie favorites like “Lady Bird”, “Uncut Gems”. “And” Minari “decided to postpone the theatrical release of the film instead of debuting it on video-on-demand platforms. A24 reported in a press release on Sunday that specialized theaters saw some of the best recordings of the year.

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