F9 stars Vin Diesel and Charlize Theron celebrated the latest Fast and Furious film’s record-breaking (pandemic) opening weekend. For over a year now, major releases have either been delayed or forced to switch to streaming platforms due to theater closures. The global 2020 box office was down $30 billion from 2019, and Tenet even tried and failed when it was released in theaters last September. However, the theatrical business has been picking up recently thanks to releases like Godzilla vs. Kong and the Memorial Day weekend release of A Quiet Place II. With F9 following these releases, expectations grew as there were more positive signs for theaters.

After delaying its release by a year, F9 released internationally in May, scoring the biggest opening weekend since the pandemic started with $162.4 million from only eight markets. The business also took the entire franchise past $6 billion in global grosses. Of course, all eyes were then firmly fixed on its domestic release. F9 was projected to earn $67 million in its opening weekend and surpass A Quiet Place II’s record opening, but in true Fast and Furious fashion, the film drove through expectations, earning $70 million in its opening weekend. The film now holds the record for the biggest pandemic opening weekend, almost signifying the return of theaters.

Related: How Much Did F9 Cost to Make?

Although F9’s opening is considerably less than Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious’ opening, it’s a big win under the current theatrical climate, and this was something that was not lost on Diesel and Theron. In an exclusive report from Variety, Diesel and Theron celebrated F9’s box office success and the impact it’s having on theaters during a benefit for Theron’s Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP). Diesel told Variety, “‘Cinema is back’” while expressing his joy at people returning to theaters, and he took his “hat off” to Universal for holding out for the theatrical experience. Theron called it the “perfect movie to help us come back,” and star Jordana Brewster also celebrated its success.

Diesel: “I think what feels best is just the idea that people are returning to the theatrical experience. It feels good to say, ‘Cinema is back!’ You can’t fault another studio for wanting to stream a movie, but the ones like Universal are bold enough to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to support the theatrical release,' I take my hat off to them.”

Theron: “It’s amazing. Just thinking about the fact that they’re on their ninth movie, that’s pretty impressive. It’s a perfect movie to help us come back.”

Brewster: “It’s really nice. It just feels good to be back in the theater — period!”

Vin Diesel and John Cena in F9

Considering F9’s budget pushes towards $300 million, the film will need to go past its current $405 million global total to ensure it’s a big success for Universal. However, thus far, the signs are nothing but positive for the last installment of the franchise. As Diesel stated, it’s even more encouraging to see people returning to theaters in strong numbers, and the success is also a testament to Universal for not relenting by doing a streaming release of some kind. F9 had plenty of enticing hooks for audiences, with the film revolving around Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his crew battling Dom’s estranged brother Jakob (John Cena), who’s aligned himself with Cipher (Theron). Also, the film featured the highly-anticipated return of Han and the absurdly fun concept of going to space.

F9 has another weekend to boost its box office taking, both domestically and internationally, before Marvel’s Black Widow releases on July 9. Despite its simultaneous release on Disney+ and theaters, Black Widow’s opening is projected to be bigger than Diesel’s latest thrill ride, which would provide theaters with another major boost. F9’s success is great news for the upcoming summer releases, as well as the franchise in general, which will soon gear up for filming the final two films back to back. It’ll be interesting to see what F9’s final box office total will be, but for now, Diesel, Theron, and Hollywood can celebrate the fact that cinema appears to be back.

Next: Every Fast and the Furious Movie Ranked From Worst to Best (Including F9)

Source: Variety