Hobbs and Shaw won the box office this weekend, but still ended up with the worst Fast and Furious opening since 2009. After a handful of installments that had moderate success both domestically and internationally, Universal’s prized franchise emerged as one of the decade’s leading film properties in 2011. That year, Fast Five was released and it exceeded expectations by grossing $626.1 million worldwide. Since then, Fast and Furious has been a very reliable cash cow for the studio, with the two latest entries hitting the $1 billion mark.
Universal was so encouraged by how the Fast and Furious movies were performing that they decided it was time to expand the franchise and produce spinoffs. This past weekend, Hobbs and Shaw, starring series veterans Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, hit theaters and received mostly positive reviews from critics. Despite that word-of-mouth, the spinoff wasn’t expected to be as big a draw as its predecessors. That turned out to be true, as Fast and Furious posted numbers it hasn’t seen in 10 years.
According to Box Office Mojo, Hobbs and Shaw earned $60.8 million domestically during its first three days. That is the worst opening weekend for the franchise since 2009’s Fast and Furious, which earned $70.9 million in its opening weekend. Hobbs and Shaw actually made a little less than anticipated; projections heading into Friday had it pegged for around $66 million.
Hobbs and Shaw was able to make more than some of this summer’s bombs, like Dark Phoenix ($32.8 million) and Men in Black: International ($30 million), but these results are still alarming. It’s rare for franchise spinoffs to earn more than the mainline installments, but Hobbs and Shaw sported a cast full of A-listers (including Johnson, who’s a brand name) and didn’t have much competition for its target demographic. August marks the end of the summer movie season, and there weren’t any other PG-13 franchise tentpoles that represented a direct threat. Perhaps Universal overestimated Fast and Furious’ on-paper potential, as there wasn’t much widespread interest in seeing Hobbs and Shaw go on their own separate adventure. When Fast and Furious 9 opens next year, it’ll probably have a much larger debut.
While this start isn’t ideal, it’s worth mentioning it’s too early to write Hobbs and Shaw off as a commercial disappointment. Sine the series’ renaissance, it’s been a bigger deal internationally, so it’ll need a strong showing overseas in order to go down as a proper hit. Right now, its global total stands at $180 million (against a production budget of $200 million), so it appears to be on the right track. Legs will be key here, and it should hold well because there aren’t any other high-profile offerings left on the summer calendar. Hobbs and Shaw will probably go down as a success, but it’ll be interesting to see if Universal decides to further expand the franchise’s universe.
More: Why Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto Isn’t In Hobbs and Shaw
Source: Box Office Mojo
