4th of July Box Office Fireworks: Why Universal Wasn’t the Only Winner

A single studio’s top 3 sweep could set up the next phase of pandemic recovery

The third quarter of the 2021 box office began with a 1-2-3 combo from Universal, as “F9” kept the momentum it started last weekend going with the help of fellow studio newcomers “The Forever Purge” and “The Boss Baby: Family Business.”

Combined, the three films are estimated to earn $65 million between Friday and Monnday, pushing the overall box office gross total for the weekend past to $88 million. For Universal, it’s clearly a big weekend as it became the first studio in 16 years to take the top 3 spots on the box office charts in a single weekend. But the Fourth of July results could also mean signs of bigger things to come for the film industry.

Q3 has been expected to be an important stage in the pandemic recovery process for studios and theaters, and this weekend brought three signs that those expectations may be met.

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Jeremy Fuster

Box Office Reporter • jeremy.fuster@thewrap.com • Twitter: @jeremyfuster