Fast & Furious 9 Speeds to the Top of the Box Office with Huge $70M 3-Day Weekend

As expected, Universal’s F9 cruised to an easy victory over the weekend, taking in a massive $30M on Friday en route to $70M over its first 3-days in over 4,000 theaters (per Deadline). That total actually trumps plenty of pre-pandemic openings, including Bad Boys for Life ($62.5M) and the Fast and Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw ($60M), even if it pales in comparison to previous Fast openings, namely Fast Five ($86M), Fast and Furious 6 ($97M), Furious 7 ($147M) and The Fate of the Furious ($98M).

F9, at the very least, shows that the theater experience isn’t dead. In fact, if you look at the Top 10, the top earners this weekend — F9, A Quiet Place Part II ($6.2M/$136.4M total), Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard ($4.875M/$25.8M total), and Peter Rabbit 2 ($4.85M/$28.8M total) — were films that didn’t open simultaneously on streaming platforms, which bodes well for potential box office hits like Top Gun: Maverick, Dune and No Time to Die. Overall, the box office is up 112% from last weekend with $99.1M — the best Friday-Sunday take during the pandemic.

F9 also set a pandemic-era record opening at the IMAX box office as well as it brought in $5.5 million in North America. This runs up its IMAX total to $30 million with an addition $1 million coming internationally this week. “Continuing this franchise’s appeal to broad audiences, more than half of those who attended were Hispanic and African American with Hispanics being the largest audience of those who attended,” NBCUniversal notes. “Given the Fast franchise’s devoted fanbase and historical success, F9 is poised to continue a healthy run through the summer and beyond.”

Worldwide, F9 has stalled a bit, despite pulling in $204M from China. All told, the action sequel has pulled in $404.85M worldwide, a far cry from the $1.2 billion earned globally by Fate of the Furious and even off the $759M mark set by Hobbs and Shaw.

Comments

The FCT Minister–Soldier Standoff: A Test of Civil Authority and the Rule of Law

On November 11, 2025, Nigerians watched in disbelief as a video surfaced showing a tense confrontation between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and a group of armed soldiers who blocked his convoy from accessing a disputed piece of land in Gaduwa, Abuja. The incident, brief but dramatic, was more than a moment of political theatre. It struck at the heart of a much bigger issue — the place of the military in a democracy, and the sanctity of civilian authority under the Nigerian Constitution. The Legal Position: Who Was Right? The Minister’s Authority Under Section 302 of the 1999 Constitution and the FCT Act , the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory exercises the executive powers of the President within Abuja. That means the Minister is not just a political appointee — he represents federal executive authority . His duties include overseeing land allocation, urban planning, and the enforcement of development control through the Federal Capital T...

Nigeria: On the Right of Self-Defence and Protection of National Sovereignty

The Federal Republic of Nigeria reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, in particular the maintenance of international peace and security, the respect for the sovereignty and political independence of all States, and the peaceful settlement of disputes. Nigeria is a sovereign and independent nation. Our Constitution vests sovereignty in the people of Nigeria and mandates the Government to protect the territorial integrity and independence of our country. This sovereignty—recognised under international law and reaffirmed by our membership in the United Nations, the African Union, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)—is inviolable. The Government of Nigeria has observed with grave concern recent statements and actions that amount to a threat of aggression and possible violation of our territorial integrity. We remind all States that any such threat or use of force contravenes Article 2(4) of the Ch...

Kebbi’s 3 a.m. Withdrawal Shows Why President Tinubu’s Security Reforms Can’t Wait

When Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi State revealed that security personnel deployed to vulnerable communities were withdrawn at 3:00 a.m.—just 45 minutes before an attack—Nigerians reacted with shock, anger, and a single question that refuses to disappear: Who gave the withdrawal order? It is a fair question. It is also one that may take time, investigation, and institutional honesty to answer. But the Kebbi incident exposes a deeper truth about security management in Nigeria: our command structure is too fragmented for a country battling multi-layered threats. And this, more than anything, validates President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s push for a centralised, technology-driven, and accountable security coordination model. Nigeria’s security agencies—military, police, DSS, civil defence, intelligence units—operate in parallel lanes with overlapping mandates. State governors, despite bearing the title “Chief Security Officer,” have no legal authority over federal forces. This incoheren...

Edge Of The World

Search This Blog