In its Thursday night previews, F9 shifted the domestic box office into high gear.
According to THR, F9 grossed $7.1 million from Thursday night screenings at 3,100 locations. This is a considerable improvement of 27% on the $5.6 million Hobbs & Shaw grossed in its own Thursday night showings in Aug. 2019. F9 also dethroned the $4.8 million Thursday gross of A Quiet Place: Part II to claim the highest-grossing Thursday night haul since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began.
Current pre-release tracking suggests F9 will gross $60-70+ million in its opening weekend. While that would be below the $98.8 million debut of The Fate of the Furious, it would be easily the largest domestic box office bow since the pandemic started. It would also be in line with the domestic openings of past installments in this franchise, such as Hobbs & Shaw or Fast & Furious.
Even before it hit North American movie theaters, F9 has already been generating impressive box office figures. Playing in just 23 overseas markets, F9 has already grossed just under $300 million, the majority of which has come from a $203.8 million sum in China.
Directed by Justin Lin, F9 stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell and Charlize Theron. The film is now playing in theaters everywhere.
Source: THR