F9 is putting its pedal to the medal.
In a promising start to the summer box office season, the latest Fast & Furious installment blasted off with a huge $59.1 million on its opening day in China, while also doing strong mid-week business in other select markets where it opened this week for an early total of $69.8 million heading into the weekend.
The opening day in China was the third biggest ever for Universal behind two previous Fast pics, and the second-biggest since the box office bounced back from the pandemic.
Universal’s action-packed tentpole is opening first in select markets overseas ahead of its June 25 lunch at the North American box office. This week, that included territories that have made a recovery from COVID-19, such as China, South Korea and Russia. F9 also launched this week in Hong Kong and the Middle East.
The tentpole is among numerous 2020 event pics that were delayed by the pandemic.
Directed by Justin Lin from a script he co-wrote with Daniel Casey, F9 is a sequel to the 2017 The Fate of the Furious. Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Michael Rooker, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell and Charlize Theron star.
