Due to the continuous spread of mutated virus strains, the number of new confirmed cases of new coronavirus in the United States has also begun to rebound recently, but due to the relatively high vaccination rate, the epidemic situation is still far more optimistic than in Europe, Latin America and other places. As of the end of last week, 79 percent of North America's 5,880 theaters had reopened, and 44 U.S. states had lifted theater attendance restrictions. Spurred by the strong opening of the blockbuster "Fast and Furious 9", the North American weekend market also rebounded to more than $98 million, surpassing the "Memorial Day" weekend and setting its best performance since the end of February 2020. This Sunday will be the "Independence Day" in the United States, and Universal will have two new films "Human Clearance Plan 5" and "Baby Boss 2" released, when the company's films will occupy the top three north American weekend box office, and the North American weekend market is also expected to hit the $100 million mark again. "Fast and Furious 9" injects a "shot in the arm" into the sluggish North American market, the recovery process of the North American market is accelerating, and the cold winter of the projection industry has finally passed.
Universal's action sequel Fast & Furious 9, the only new film to open on a large scale last week, began shooting in 4,179 theaters on Friday and grossed $29.86 million on the first day, surpassing $19.37 million on the first day of A Quiet Place 2 and becoming the first blockbuster to exceed $20 million on the opening day of the pandemic. Directed by Lin Yibin and starring Van Diesel and Teres Gibson, the sequel fell 25% at the box office on Saturday, with a relatively mediocre trend, and its first three-day box office reached $70.04 million, basically in line with market expectations, and there was no suspense to surpass the $47.5 million in the first weekend of "A Quiet Place 2", setting a record for the best first weekend in the North American epidemic period. In fact, "Rush 9" is already the first North American movie to gross more than $70 million at the weekend after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in the 2019 Christmas show. The film is also the first film in the North American market to open more than 4,000 theaters during the epidemic period, considering that the current compound power is still less than 80%, which shows that the distribution company Universal has definitely made a lot of efforts.
"Fast and Furious 9" contributed about 71% of the market share of the North American weekend market, and the last time the North American weekend market was close to breaking 100 million, it dates back to the weekend from February 28 to March 1 last year, and the market market reached $97.3 million at the weekend when the same global release of "The Invisible Man" began. Because the large box office, Arclight and Pacific Theaters in the Los Angeles area, have not resumed business, and the local opening performance of "Rapid Shock 9" has been 30% backward compared with the opening performance of "Rapid Shock". As of last Sunday, the North American market grossed $1.054 billion in the first half of the year, a 43 percent reversal from the same period in 2020, but thanks to the increasing number of new films released, this decline has begun to narrow significantly. "Rapid Shock 9" was released in the first markets such as Chinese mainland as early as May 21, and the mainland market has ended with a score of 219 million US dollars, which is slightly lower than the "Rapid Shock Story" two years ago. The film received only about 60% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and its Metacritic score was only 58 points, which was a step backwards from "Super 8". As of last Sunday, the film's cumulative global box office has reached $405 million, and its current achievements in North America, overseas and around the world have surpassed "Creed", which was released at the beginning of last year's resumption of work.
Paramount's thriller sequel, A Quiet Place 2, was released in 3,124 theaters in its fifth week of release, earning another $6.2 million in three days, still the runner-up weekend box office. Written and directed by John Krasinski and starring Emily Blunt, Killian Murphy and Noah Yuppe, the sequel fell just 32% from the previous weekend, and was less than expected by the impact of "Rush 9", which grossed $136 million in the five weeks of release, temporarily ranking the top box office in North America. According to the current trend, the film will eventually gross $150 million, which is expected to be close to about 80% of the previous game. The film is also doing well in overseas markets, with its cumulative global box office exceeding $250 million, and its final landing point will hit more than $300 million. In 2018, the first "A Quiet Place" grossed $340 million worldwide, and "A Quiet Place 2" will shrink by less than 20%.
The action sequel "The Bodyguard of the Killer Wife" ("Ace Bodyguard 2") produced by Lionsgate and Millennium Pictures remained in 3361 theaters the following weekend, and received another box office of 4.85 million in three days, and North America retreated to the third place in the weekend list. Starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel Jackson, the sequel plunged 57.4% from the previous weekend, and was hit by the opening of "Rush 9", which has accumulated $25.85 million at the North American box office, just surpassing the first weekend of the previous game, and the performance is not ideal. As of last Sunday, Ace Bodyguard 2 grossed just $40.4 million worldwide, and with the current momentum, its final result will only hit 50% of the previous game ($177 million).
Sony's family-friendly animation "Bid Rabbit 2: Escape Project" remained in 3,331 theaters in North America over the weekend and grossed $4.77 million in three days, almost equal to "Ace Bodyguard 2" and ranked fourth on the weekend list. The new work, which features a family audience as its main audience, fell 21.5% from the previous weekend and is in a very good position, with a cumulative box office of more than $28.77 million in the three weeks of release, and is about to break through the 30 million mark. While the film escaped direct competition from Pixar's "Sunny Summer Days," it will face a diversion from DreamWorks' Baby Boss 2 this week, with its final North American result expected to be around $40 million. As of Sunday, the sequel has grossed $108 million worldwide, with a final drop-off of $150 million.
Disney's crime comedy "Black and White Witch Kuira" continued to be released simultaneously in theaters and disney+ platforms, and took another $3.8 million over the weekend, still ranking fifth on the weekend list. Starring Emma Stone, Emma Thompson and Mark Strong, the film fell 21 percent from the previous weekend and continued to narrow, with a cumulative north American box office of $71.38 million, tentatively ranking fourth in North America. The film's trend in overseas markets is also extremely eye-catching, and its global cumulative box office has exceeded 185 million US dollars, and it will eventually easily break through the 200 million US dollar mark.
Warner's horror sequel film "The Conjuring 3" was reduced to 2668 theaters over the weekend, and it sucked up another $3 million in three days on the weekend, retreating to the sixth highest weekend box office in North America. Starring Vera Famiga and Patrick Wilson, the sequel is down 40% from the previous weekend and has narrowed significantly, with a cumulative box office of $59.2 million in the four weeks of release, and is about to become the first R-rated film to break $60 million during the epidemic. At present, its final results are still expected to hit $70 million. "The Conjuring 3" is also not as good as the previous game in overseas markets, and the current global box office is only in the early 160 million US dollars.