After a pandemic-time record opening of $80.37 million, Disney’s Black Widow slipped to second place in its second weekend with $26.3 million, down 67% from its opening weekend.
The former record holder was pushed into second place by the rather strong launch of the family film Space Jam: A New Legacy from Warner Bros. Studio, which collected about $31.65 million in its opening weekend in North America (USA and Canada together) due to its broad appeal to different demographics. Here it is worth noting that the picture was simultaneously available for free viewing by all subscribers of the HBO Max streaming service.
So far, distributors have not made statements about the reduction of theatrical fees due to the availability of this particular film on streaming. However, the National Association of Movie Theater Owners (NATO) came out in the press strongly criticizing Disney for simultaneously releasing Black Widow on Disney+ streaming (for a fee of $30), claiming that the studio was thereby “leaving money on the table” by reducing the audience base for theaters that could build on the success of the blockbuster and prevent a 67% second-weekend drop.
Another newcomer, the thriller Escape Room: A Tournament of Champions, opened third with $8.8 million, more or less meeting modest expectations.
Foreign distribution helps Hollywood quite a lot. Even amid tightening pandemic restrictions in a number of major countries, including Australia, Japan and South Korea, due to rising cases of COVID-19 there, Black Widow has collected $29.9 million from 48 countries, bringing its overseas total was 132 million dollars, and the global box office – 264 million dollars. To date, the top-grossing international markets for the film, which has yet to open in China, are South Korea ($19.1 million), the United Kingdom ($15.6 million) and France ($11.5 million).
Fast and Furious 9 collected another $28.65 million in 57 countries, including a $9.4 million opening in France and $6.8 million in Germany. The real-life blockbuster’s total outside of North America now stands at $436.43 million, while its global box office stands at $591.27 million. Future key markets are Japan (opening August 6) and Italy (August 18).
Space Jam: The Next Generation opened with $23.01 million in 63 countries, including first in Australia ($6.5 million) and Mexico ($3.2 million), and second in the UK ($1.9 million) . So far, the new restrictions are not particularly felt, but the unpredictability of the market remains due to the uncertainty of which countries and which ones will introduce restrictions on attendance at cinemas.