“F9” has been a boon for theaters and the box office, scoring the highest opening weekend in over 18 months with a $70 million start in the U.S. And even with about 20% of domestic theaters still closed, “F9” is on track to match or exceed the box office of the “Fast & Furious” franchise’s 2019 spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw,” which opened to $60 million and wound up grossing $174 million domestically and $585 million overseas.
That would be a great outcome for Universal, which gambled by releasing the pricey action film at this still relatively early stage in the post-pandemic recovery period.