“Boss Baby: Family Business” and “The Forever Purge” help push box office to best numbers since Memorial Day

Giles Keyte/Universal

Universal has given the July box office a big start, as the second weekend of its tentpole blockbuster “F9” has combined with the openings of DreamWorks’ “The Boss Baby: Family Business” and Blumhouse’s “The Forever Purge” to push movie theaters to their strongest weekend since Memorial Day.

While Sunday numbers are expected to be lower than usual due to 4th of July festivities, Universal projects that its three films will gross a combined $75 million when Monday numbers are included. That would push the overall 4-day total to $101 million, just above the $98.3 million fueled by Paramount’s “A Quiet Place — Part II” on Memorial Day weekend.

Leading the way is “F9” with a $24 million 3-day/$32.7 million 4-day total, which would give it $126 million through two weekends. The “Fast & Furious” installment set a new post-pandemic record by hitting $100 million domestic, and on Monday it is set to become the first Hollywood movie since the pandemic to gross $500 million worldwide, currently holding a total of $491 million through Sunday.

In second is “Boss Baby: Family Business,” which isn’t being hindered much by its day-and-date streaming release on Peacock as it has earned a $17.3 million 3-day/$23 million 4-day opening. Though that total is notably lower than the $50 million opening of the original “Boss Baby,” it is also a notable step up from the $10 million opening of “Peter Rabbit 2” last weekend, showing possibly increased confidence among families in returning to the movies as they comprised 77% of the film’s audience this weekend.

While critics were mixed with a 48% Rotten Tomatoes score, the film posted an A with audiences on CinemaScore with a 74% positive rating on Postrak.

“The Forever Purge” is in third with a $12.7 million 3-day/$15.8 million 4-day total. Of the three new entries, this one has the lowest production budget at a reported $18 million. As expected, this film also took a drop from previous franchise openings, as 2018’s “The First Purge” earned a $31 million extended 5-day opening as it opened on a July 4 Wednesday.

Reception for “The Forever Purge” was more mixed with a B- on CinemaScore, lower than the series-high B+ earned by “The Purge: Election Year” in 2016. But Postrak scores were 72% positive. Audiences 18-24 were the highest turnout at 39% while Black and Latino audiences combined to comprise 50% of the weekend’s audience.

More to come…

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