Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow Spins New COVID-Era Box Office Record

The film took in an estimated $80 million in North America this three-day weekend

New Disney superhero film Black Widow took in an estimated $80 million in North America this three-day weekend, a pandemic-era record as the Marvel Universe showed continuing lure, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. The movie, starring Scarlett Johansson as the cat-suited superspy, took in an additional $60 million streaming on Disney Plus (at $29.99 for subscribers), and $78 million internationally, for an impressive global total of $218 million. Hollywood Reporter called it "unprecedented" for a studio to announce its streaming total on a film's opening weekend. The film has yet to open in China. Far behind in second place was Universal's action thriller F9: The Fast Saga, at $10.9 million, down by more than half from last weekend's take. It had held the previous pandemic-era record with a $70 million opening. Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and John Cena star in this ninth installment in the Fast And Furious franchise. Universal also claimed the next two box-office spots. In third was its animated sequel The Boss Baby: Family Business, at $8.7 million. The yarn about a cannily can-do "boss baby" features the voices of Alec Baldwin, Eva Longoria, Jeff Goldblum and Lisa Kudrow. Horror film The Forever Purge placed fourth, at $6.7 million. This latest in the Purge series is again set in a dystopian near-future where all crime, even murder, is made legal one day a year. Ana de la Reguera and Tenoch Huerta star.