“Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,” the action film starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, earned $5.8 million at the box office in Thursday night previews from 3,400 screens. It opens on 4,253 screens this weekend.
Universal’s spinoff, stand-alone film of the “Fast & Furious” franchise is tracking in the low $60 million range, with the studio projecting between $57-60 million. The eighth and previous film in the franchise, “The Fate of the Furious,” made $10.4 million at the Thursday box office before opening to $98.7 million.
As a spinoff without the traditional “Fast & Furious” family on board, the film is looking additionally to the star power of The Rock, Statham and Idris Elba to get audiences in the seats. Further, much of the success of the franchise has come from overseas, with the last film managing to cross over $1 billion globally despite only 18.3% of its total grosses coming domestically.
It will also face off against “The Lion King” still going strong and having already surpassed $1 billion at the global box office, and the second weekend for Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” which was the strongest opening of the director’s career and is expected to have some legs as word of mouth on the film grows.
Enterprising audiences who did seek out “Hobbs & Shaw” on Thursday night were also treated to the first teaser trailer for “Tenet,” the next film from director Christopher Nolan that stars John David Washington and Robert Pattinson from Warner Bros. It was a special surprise considering that at time of writing the trailer has yet to post online. Check out a description of the teaser here.
“Hobbs & Shaw” is directed by “John Wick” and “Deadpool 2’s” David Leitch in a film that sees Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Statham), once rivals in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, teaming up to take down a genetically enhanced terrorist and super soldier played by Idris Elba.
Ever since hulking lawman Hobbs (Johnson), a loyal agent of America’s Diplomatic Security Service, and lawless outcast Shaw (Statham), a former British military elite operative, first faced off in 2015’s “Furious 7,” the duo have swapped smack talk and body blows as they’ve tried to take each other down. But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever — and bests a brilliant and fearless rogue MI6 agent (“The Crown’s” Vanessa Kirby), who just happens to be Shaw’s sister — these two sworn enemies will have to partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves.
Vanessa Kirby and Helen Mirren also star in the film. Leitch directs from a script written by longtime “F&F” writer Chris Morgan with Drew Pearce. The film is produced by Johnson, Statham, Morgan and Hiram Garcia. The executive producers are Dany Garcia, Kelly McCormick, Ethan Smith, Ainsley Davies and Steven Chasman.