Although the box office has yet to fully recover from the pandemic, at least one studio has good reason to celebrate this Fourth of July weekend. Universal Pictures currently has the top three films at the domestic box office with 鈥淔9,鈥� 鈥淭he Boss Baby: Family Business鈥� and 鈥淭he Forever Purge,鈥� according to studio estimates Sunday. It鈥檚 the first time that鈥檚 happened for Universal since 1989, when the studio had 鈥淪ea of Love,鈥� 鈥淧arenthood鈥� and 鈥淯ncle Buck鈥� topping the charts, and the first time for any studio since 2005.
As expected, the 鈥淔ast & Furious鈥� sequel 鈥淔9鈥� maintained the top spot in its second weekend in North American theaters. The film added an estimated $24 million over the weekend and is projected to take in $32.7 million by the end of Monday, bringing its domestic total to $125.8 million. Worldwide, 鈥淔9鈥� will likely surpass the $500 million mark on Monday.
In second place, the animated 鈥淏oss Baby鈥� sequel surpassed expectations opening with $17.3 million for the weekend and $23.1 million including Monday. 鈥淭he Boss Baby: Family Business鈥� features Alex Baldwin voicing the worldly toddler. And in third place, the latest Blumhouse venture, 鈥淭he Forever Purge,鈥� is expected to gross $12.8 million in ticket sales through Sunday and $15.9 million over the four-day weekend.
Although the three films may share a studio name, they鈥檙e also all different genres with different audience bases: A PG-13 action pic, an R-rated horror and a PG-rated family film. Almost half of the audience for 鈥淭he Boss Baby 2,鈥� for example, was 12 and under, while 64% of the audience for 鈥淭he Forever Purge鈥� was in the coveted 18 to 34 range and also very ethnically diverse.
While it鈥檚 a bit unconventional for a major studio to open two big films on the same weekend, Universal鈥檚 head of domestic distribution Jim Orr said they simply saw an opportunity and have historically had great successes on the Fourth of July weekend.
鈥淭his weekend is just a great glimpse of what we do constantly. which is provide theatrical audiences with a diverse slate of quality films,鈥� Orr said. 鈥淭he results speak for themselves.鈥�
The varied slate, he said, is something the studio takes great pride in.
鈥淲e have films for every single audience out there,鈥� Orr added. 鈥淲e have tremendous partners, with DreamWorks and Blumhouse, and we also have some of the biggest franchises in the industry with the Fast saga.鈥�
Paramount鈥檚 鈥淎 Quiet Place Part II鈥� landed in fourth with an estimated $4.2 million over the three-day weekend and a projected $5.6 million including Monday, bringing its total to $145.8 million in its sixth weekend. 鈥淭he Hitman鈥檚 Wife's Bodyguard鈥� took fifth with $3 million for the weekend.
鈥淲e are still in an unusual marketplace,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore鈥檚 senior media analyst. 鈥淏ut this is a solid weekend鈥� 鈥�81% of theaters are open in North America and moviegoers had a smorgasbord of options. This feels like truly the first fully fledged summer weekend.鈥�
The based-on-a-Twitter-thread film 鈥淶ola鈥� also had a strong opening on 1,468 screens. The film about a road trip to Florida gone wrong has earned an estimated $2.4 million since Wednesday. According to studio A24, many of the New York and Los Angeles showings sold out this weekend.
"'Zola鈥� is disproving the notion that only blockbusters will bring people to the theaters," Dergarabedian said.
And despite also being available on Hulu, Questlove's 鈥淏lack Woodstock鈥� documentary 鈥淪ummer of Soul鈥� earned $650,000 from 752 theaters. Although a somewhat modest number, Searchlight said it's the best performing documentary of the year so far.
The successes are also notable for what they were up against outside of theaters. This was a weekend where there were quite a few at-home streaming options as well, with Amazon Prime Video鈥檚 Chris Pratt blockbuster 鈥淭he Tomorrow War鈥� among them.
The Universal films accounted for over 77% of the total projected grosses this weekend, which was the third best of the pandemic (behind last weekend's 鈥淔9鈥� opening and the first 鈥淨uiet Place 2鈥� weekend), according to data from Comscore.
But the reign likely won't continue for long. Next weekend, Disney and Marvel's 鈥淏lack Widow" hits theaters. And even 鈥淏lack Widow鈥� has a caveat, despite being the first Marvel movie in almost two years: It'll also be available to rent on Disney+.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淔9,鈥� $24 million.
2. 鈥淭he Boss Baby: Family Business,鈥� $17.4 million.
3. 鈥淭he Forever Purge,鈥� $12.8 million.
4. 鈥淎 Quiet Place Part II,鈥� $4.2 million.
5. 鈥淭he Hitman鈥檚 Wife鈥檚 Bodyguard,鈥� $3 million.
6. 鈥淐ruella,鈥� $2.6 million.
7. 鈥淧eter Rabbit 2: The Runaway,鈥� $2.3 million.
8. 鈥淭he Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,鈥� $1.3 million.
9. 鈥淚n the Heights,鈥� $1.3 million.
10. 鈥淶ola,鈥� $1.2 million.
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Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
