Fast And Furious 9 takes top spot in Singapore box office
Hollywood blockbuster Fast And Furious 9 has grossed $1.28 million with sneak previews at cinemas in Singapore over four days and took the top spot last weekend, despite a seating restriction cap of 50 people for every cinema screen.
It is bigger than the four-day opening weekend box office of Train To Busan: Peninsula, Tenet and Mulan last year when capacity was similarly restricted.
Officially opening here on July 1, the action sequel is also the No. 1 movie in the world and has since amassed a worldwide box office of US$404 million (S$540 million) and broken the pandemic era opening box-office record with US$70 million in North America when it opened there last week.
The plot? Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and John Cena have to deal not only with exploding cars, plane crashes and private armies but also electromagnetic weapons and ominous satellites.
Coming in second was horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II, at US$6.2 million. Since its release five weeks ago, it has taken in US$136 million domestically and US$112 million overseas.
So how should Hollywood be feeling about its incipient recovery?
"The industry is still settling" after its 15-month shutdown, Mr David Gross, who runs consultancy Franchise Entertainment Research, told Variety.
"The effects of the pandemic will take time to heal, (but) the new normal is coming... Fast And Furious 9 and A Quiet Place Part II are the cleanest reads of what the business can do now - both strong series and pure theatrical releases/no streaming." - AFP, REUTERS
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