Universal tops box office with ‘F9’, ‘The Boss Baby’
In the UAE, 'The Boss Baby' has emerged as the top watch over the weekend
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 US box office with ‘F9’, ‘The Boss Baby: Family Business’ and ‘The Forever Purge’, according to studio estimates Sunday. It’s the first time that’s happened for Universal since 1989, when the studio had ‘Sea of Love’, ‘Parenthood’ and ‘Uncle Buck’ topping the charts, and the first time for any studio since 2005.
All three movies have continued their reign in the UAE as well, with ‘The Boss Baby: Family Business’ taking the top spot over the weekend, according to Vox Cinemas.
‘Fast & Furious’ sequel ‘F9’ maintained the top spot in its second weekend in North American theatres, while having released in the UAE more than a month ago and slipping down the charts. The film added an estimated $24 million over the weekend in the US and is projected to take in $32.7 million by the end of Monday, bringing its domestic total to $125.8 million. Worldwide, ‘F9’ will likely surpass the $500 million mark on Monday.
In second place in the US, the animated ‘Boss Baby’ sequel surpassed expectations opening with $17.3 million for the weekend and $23.1 million including Monday. ‘The Boss Baby: Family Business’ features Alex Baldwin voicing the worldly toddler. And in third place, the latest Blumhouse venture, ‘The Forever Purge’, is expected to gross $12.8 million in ticket sales through Sunday and $15.9 million over the four-day weekend in the US.
However, in the UAE, ‘The Forever Purge’ has only come in at the seventh position, being beaten by the Arabic film ‘Mesh Ana’, followed by ‘ The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’, ‘The Misfits’ and the animated film ‘Luca’.
Paramount’s ‘A Quiet Place Part II’ 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. While in the UAE, it holds the eight position in the charts.
This was a weekend where there were quite a few at-home streaming options as well, with Amazon Prime Video’s Chris Pratt blockbuster ‘The Tomorrow War’ among them.
In the coming weekend, Disney and Marvel’s ‘Black Widow’ hits UAE theatres on July 8.