‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.’
As a spin-off, Universal’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw was never destined to roar out of the starting blocks with the same velocity as the previous editions of the franchise.
But the opening weekend for the action thriller starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in Australia over-indexed the US bow and the worldwide tally was a none-too-shabby $179 million.
The top 20 titles generated $17.4 million, a slight 7 per cent dip on the previous weekend, according to Numero. Palace’s French psychological drama/thriller Who You Think I Am proved to be effective counter-programming for non-rev-heads, while Sony’s Chinese firefighting movie The Bravest fared OK on limited screens.
Rialto’s indie US drama The Public and Madman Entertainment’s romantic drama Ophelia directed by Aussie Claire McCarthy struggled in line with their US results.
Directed by David Leitch, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw clocked up $7.2 million, tracking above Mission: Impossible- Fallout, a strong start considering most recent editions had the benefit of the Easter holidays.
The domestic take was $60 million, the third best entry for the franchise below each of the last two films. The $179 million global debut is Universal’s fifth biggest ever behind The Fate of the Furious, Jurassic World, Furious 7 and Fifty Shades Of Grey.
Disney’s live action remake of The Lion King is the studio’s fourth blockbuster to surpass $1 billion this year. Here, the Jon Favreau-directed musical fantasy adventure bagged $6.3 million in its third chapter, hoisting its total to $49.7 million. The global haul stands at $1.195 billion – $430.9 domestic and $764.9 million in the rest of the world.
Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home ascended to $36.2 million after minting $667,000 in its fifth orbit. The Jon Watts-directed sequel starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Remy Hii and Angourie Rice has amassed $1.08 billion globally.
Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4 drew $510,000 in its seventh, climbing to $40.4 million. Directed by Josh Cooley, the comedy voiced by Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Tony Hale, Annie Potts, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele and Keanu Reeves is closing in on $1 billion with $959.3 million in the till.
Universal/Working Title’s Yesterday warbled its way to $12.8 million after collecting $431,000 in its sixth, outshining the US, where Danny Boyle’s fantasy romantic comedy musical has whistled up $67.9 million.
Icon’s The Keeper, German director Marcus H. Rosenmüller’s drama based on the true story of the former Nazi soldier and prisoner of war who became a star goalkeeper for Manchester City, kicked along to $650,000 after making $223,000 in its second weekend
Mind Blowing Films’ Punjabi drama Chal Mera Putt, directed by Janjot Singh and starring Amrinder Gill, Simi Chahal, Iftikhar Thakur and Nasir Chinyoti, has raked in a hearty $750,000 on 37 screens on the back of its $212,000 second weekend.
Universal/Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 moved up to $18.2 million after adding $160,000 in its seventh.
Directed by Safy Nebbou, Who You Think I Am stars Juliette Binoche as Claire, a university lecturer and mother of two teenage boys who is rebuilding her life with a new partner after her ex-husband betrays her. The drama mustered $130,000 on only 19 screens at the weekend and $336,000 including festivals and previews.
The Bravest, director Tony Chan’s action drama about a disgraced firefighter captain who must put aside his grievances and team up with his former subordinate in order to save the city, collected $86,000 on 23 screens here and $82 million in its first four days in China.
Directed, written by and starring Emilio Estevez, The Public, the tale of homeless people who take over the public library to seek shelter from the cold, leading to a stand-off with cops, booked $61,000 on 57 screens. The drama opened in the US in June, ending up with $573,000.
Ophelia, a retelling of Hamlet from the point of view of Ophelia (Daisy Ridley), who is taken in by Queen Gertrude (Naomi Watts) to become a lady-in-waiting and falls in love with Prince Hamlet (George MacKay), fetched $45,000 on 35 screens and $55,000 with previews. IFC released the film in the US, making just $US51,000.