F9: The Fast Saga zooms to a big opening at the weekend box office!

Fast and Furious sequel motors to first!

The latest entry in the unrelenting FAST & FURIOUS series accelerated into domestic theaters this weekend, putting F9: THE FAST SAGA on top with an estimated opening of $70 million!

The tenth movie in the franchise that gleefully obliterates the limits of vehicular physics had a better start off the line than the recent spinoff FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW, which opened with $60 million in August 2019.

F9 also had the strongest opening during the pandemic challenges of the past year-and-a-half, scoring the highest weekend gross since the $62.5 million opening of BAD BOYS FOR LIFE in January of 2020.

Universal's PG-13 release couldn't quite beat the openings of the previous three chapters in the main F&F series, but came close to the $70.9 million start of FAST & FURIOUS in 2009.

The action epic of cars and family, which brings back Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang and the whole gang to battle John Cena and Charlize Theron, cost a reported $200 million.

The sequel, which also features the return of director Justin Lin for his first time since FAST & FURIOUS 6 (James Wan and F. Gary Gray filled in on the last two), opened internationally a couple of weeks ago and has driven to a worldwide total of $405 million.

The overall $6.3 billion global total for the entire franchise now makes it the fifth highest-grossing series in history, behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Harry Potter, STAR WARS and James Bond.

Critics pumped the brakes on the preposterous automotive activity, giving it an average of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 59 on Metacritic. Steer on over to the JoBlo reviews HERE and HERE.

Still sneaking around in second place was the PG-13 sequel A QUIET PLACE: PART II with $6.2 million. After five weekends, the Paramount horror-thriller has a domestic total of $136.3 million and $248.4 million worldwide, on a reported $61 million cost.

Last weekend's winner THE HITMAN'S WIFE'S BODYGUARD got gunned down to a distant third place with $4.87 million, bleeding out by 57% from its opening.

The R-rated action-comedy sequel with Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson and Salma Hayek has a 12-day domestic total of $25.8 million and $40.3 million worldwide, on a reported cost of $70 million.

In fourth place was Sony's family sequel PETER RABBIT 2: THE RUNAWAY with $4.85 million, hopping to a domestic total of $28.8 million after three weekends. The animated/live-action comedy has a worldwide total of $107.8 million, on a reported $45 million cost.

The PG-13 prequel CRUELLA was in fifth place with $3.72 million. After five weekends in theaters (and on Disney+ for an extra 30 bucks), the live-action Disney movie starring Emma Stone now has a domestic total of $71.3 million and $183.8 million worldwide.

The R-rated sequel THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT was in sixth place with $2.92 million over its fourth weekend in theaters. The $39 million Warner Bros. horror-thriller (still streaming on HBO Max for another week) has a domestic total of $59.1 million and $160.6 million worldwide.

In seventh place was the PG-13 musical IN THE HEIGHTS with $2.2 million on its third weekend. The Warner Bros. drama (also on HBO Max) based on Lin-Manuel Miranda's popular Broadway show has a domestic total of $24.1 million and $30 million worldwide, on a reported cost of $55 million.

The DreamWorks animated movie SPIRIT UNTAMED was in eighth place wth $1.03 million for its fourth weekend, bringing the Universal release to a domestic total of $15.8 million and $21.2 million worldwide on a reported $30 million cost.

In ninth place was the period football drama 12 MIGHTY ORPHANS with $591,000 to give Sony's PG-13 sports movie a domestic total of $2.29 million after its second weekend on 1000 screens.

Shooting back onto the list in tenth place was the R-rated "geriaction" movie NOBODY with $560,000 for the weekend.

Universal re-issued the Bob Odenkirk thriller for a drive-in double feature with F9: THE FAST SAGA at 115 locations, pushing the domestic total from the March theatrical release to $26.7 million and $61 million worldwide on a $16 million cost. Unsurprisingly, a sequel is in the works.

Outside the chart, horror-comedy THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR: MEET THE BLACKS 2 took off with director Guy Ritchie's action-thriller WRATH OF MAN. The new R-rated horror-comedy WEREWOLVES WITHIN was also released onto 270 screens, taking $223,000 for the weekend.

Next week offers a different sort of holiday for the July 4th weekend with the horror-thriller sequel THE FOREVER PURGE, and there's more animated infants in the sequel THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS.

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