Box Office Discussion: In the "Black"

 It's a new pandemic record as Black Widow dominates, but it's not a complete win.

As expected, Black Widow, delayed by 14 months from its original opening date due to Covid, returned the MCU to theaters in smashing style, taking in $80.4 million over the post-holiday weekend.  That tops F9's $70 million opening from just two weeks ago.  Widow should become the fourth movie since the pandemic to top $100 million by early next weekend at the latest, and has a strong chance at becoming the first $200 million grosser since Bad Boys For Life.

That said, not all the news is good news for the thriller, which introduces Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and Rachel Weisz to the ever-expanding MCU.  It's combined grosses for Thursday night previews and Friday was $39.5 million, heightening expectations that the film would blast past $100 million over the weekend.  Instead, it dropped rather dramatically on Saturday, suggesting the film is front-loaded and possibly harbingering a big drop this weekend.  Disney announced that the film took in an additional $60 million from premium buys on Disney+ a stat that hasn't been shared from previous premium releases like Cruella and Raya and the Last Dragon, suggesting that the studio also found the opening to be lower than expected and wanted to head off any negative headlines.

F9, which is not streaming anywhere yet, came in second, driving away with an additional $11.4 million.  So far, the action thriller has grossed $141.9 million and should pass A Quiet Place Part II in the next week or so.  Studiomate Boss Baby: Family Business, which is streaming on Peacock (without even an upcharge) came in third, taking in $8.9 million for a ten-day total of $34.9 million.  At this point, it seems likely to pass the aforementioned Raya, currently the highest-grossing PG-rated movie of the year.

Another Universal title, The Forever Purge, surprisingly held up the best of the studio's three 4th of July releases, with a $7.1 million second weekend, good for a ten-day total of $27.9 million.  This is almost certainly going to be the lowest-grossing Purge film, but should still turn a solid profit.

The aforementioned Quiet Place II continues to perform steadily, with easily the best legs of the summer.  It scared up another $3.2 million, for a total of $150.9 million.  Cruella, while not on the same level as Quiet Place, also has shown off a pair of strong legs, taking in $2.4 million for a total of $80.9 million.  While $100 million is probably too far away, never underestimate Disney when it comes to getting their films to big round grosses.

The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, which will hopefully not get an even more awkwardly-titled third entry, brought in $1.6 million for a total of $35 million.  Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, which was looking like a sleeper hit in June and is now looking less like one, brought in $1.3 million for a total of $37.7 million.

After all ten movies in the Top Ten topped $1 million last weekend, only 8 were able to do it this weekend.  Rounding out the Ten with six-digit grosses were The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, which has now grossed $63.8 million, and Zola, which has grossed $3.5 million.

While Black Widow is likely to stay at #1 this weekend, it will have some competition in the form of Space Jam: A New Legacy.  The 25-years-later sequel to the Michael Jordan/Bugs Bunny basketball comedy has Bugs and the other Looney Tunes teaming up with current superstar LeBron James (who, unlike Jordan, has some acting experience under his belt, having co-starred in Trainwreck in 2015)  against evil computer server Don Cheadle.  Like all Warner Bros. movies, it will be streaming on HBO Max for free for anyone with that service, which could cut into its opening.  Also opening this weekend, aiming for #3, is Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, a sequel to the surprise 2019 horror hit about a group of people who realize that this escape room will kill them if they can't escape.  Also aiming for a Top 10 opening is Pig, an indie thriller starring Nicolas Cage that is earning some of the best reviews of the summer.  Will Black Widow spin another successful web?  Will Space Jam be a slam dunk champ?  We'll find out next week.