Will ‘Fast 9”s release date help create box office buzz worldwide?
It’s the time of year we’ve all been waiting for, folks – new Fast & Furious movie time. The ninth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise drops this week, and audiences are ready (as always) to catch the group of ruffians we all know & love get knocked around in some high-speed chases on land, air, and sea. However, this month’s Fast & Furious movie has high stakes.
We’re not talking about stakes on racing bets, but beyond the film itself and in the movie world at large. The latest Fast movie, F9, will be the first theatres-only blockbuster to drop on audiences since the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic first put the theater experience on hold back in March 2020. Could Fast 9 remind audiences of the magic of the movies and create some real box office buzz?
Home box office
The Hollywood Reporter is among the publications today reporting on the importance of the Fast 9 release in theatres this week.
What rests on the shoulders of F9 is testing audiences’ desire for in-theater movie viewing, as the film is the first major blockbuster to release to an all-theater audience. As any HBO Max subscriber knows, lots of films have been released on streaming alongside limited theater releases over the last year.
The box office is recovering not only from theater closures amid restrictions put in place for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but also from audience’s currency ability to stream many new major motion picture releases at home. F9 will be the first big flick to drop streaming abilities during its initial release. So how does the new Fast movie intend to get @sses in seats this week?
Projected success
Reports say the box office has been kept alive over the past year thanks to a specific group of theatergoers. So far, eighteen to thirty-four year old adults have been shelling out dough for movie tickets since 2020, but now theaters face the challenge of widening the spectrum to a larger audience.
The new Fast installment, F9, however, comes from a major franchise drawing in fans as far back as 2001. Considering the following of the franchise, along with Fast 9 being the first supernova blockbuster to come to theaters since the pandemic hit, analysts project the movie to rake in between $60 million & $70 million with its opening. That is, in North America.
Worldwide
The release date for F9 in North America comes this Friday June 25th, but the film has already debuted overseas.
In Asia & other markets, the release date of F9 has earned the film over $300 million, a number which is projected to rise to $400 million by the end of this weekend, and beyond as F9 announces a release date in Europe & Latin America as the summer continues.
The numbers overseas lead experts to believe (and moviemakers to hope) Fast 9 will help continue to revive the box office and get people back in theaters for good. However, analysts think the true recovery for the box office won’t come until long after the F9 release date, sometime in the Fall.
Fall blockbusters
Box office pundits & Hollywood analysts say the summer blockbuster season may be delayed until the fall. Reports blame the confusion as to whether theaters are fully open, along with the varied range of activities people are getting back to as restrictions are lifted across the U.S.
Experts think movie going may fall to the waste side among the plethora of summertime activities out there, many of which have been made newly available for the first time since 2019. However, if any franchise will get people back in movie theaters, it will be Fast & Furious.
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What’s your favorite Fast movie? Sound off in the comments below!
