Happy Father’s Day to all the dads! Whether you are new to the job, or you are a grandfather twice over – I hope you enjoyed the weekend with your children and family. As I inched closer to 30 this weekend, I realize I am becoming more like my dad – and I don’t mind that at all! Great dads leave behind big shoes to fill. They take the first steps so that their children can comfortably make their own. Thank you!

With the long-awaited F9 slated for this Friday June 25, Lionsgate gave The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard a Wednesday release to set some space between it and the upcoming blockbuster. Although the studio was not planning on it, with Juneteenth (June 19) becoming a federal holiday, and many business giving employees Friday off, this weekend’s box-office was possibly boosted by the double-holiday weekend. The sequel’s five-day total of $17M (the three day neared $12M) is in-line with expectations, considering that the three-day haul of 2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard was $21M.

The only film that failed to have a strong holdover this holiday weekend was In the Heights, dropping out of the top five with a 63% decline. This, along with last weekend’s soft debuts, serve as a reminder that the “post-covid normal” the box-office is building towards will include the usual highs and lows. It all depends on the movie. In just three weekends, A Quiet Place II became the first tentpole to cross $100M domestically since the pandemic (it has $125M now). It took 12 weekends, but Godzilla vs Kong finally became the second tentpole to cross $100M this weekend.

During the pandemic, it was speculated that more moviegoers would choose to visit theaters on a weekday due to capacity restrictions and other pandemic concerns. With the pandemic easing into the background – 43 states allow theaters to operate without capacity restrictions – it seems like moviegoers will still prefer to see movies over the weekend. Pre-pandemic, a weekend’s box-office would likely be 65% of the full week gross (75% when school is in session). Last weekend’s $58M total came in right at 65% of the full Fri-Thurs total ($89M). The two weekends before that came in at 69% each.

This weekend’s 3-day total of $46M total is lower than last weekend’s – to be expected since we only got one low-tier release vs the two from last week. Despite that, we are seeing the floor of the box-office continue to rise. Afterall, we are far away from having weekends that barely total to $10M. Even before taking into account the upcoming grosses of F9, Q2’s to-date gross of $677M is nearly triple that of Q1’s $250M (using calendar flights).

Q3 will take that number even higher with the most blockbuster films on the calendar since the pandemic. Black Widow (7/09) is likely the most anticipated film right now, but we should not forget about the others: Space Jam 2 (7/16), Jungle Cruise (7/30), The Suicide Squad (8/06), Free Guy (8/13), Candyman (8/27), Shang Chi (9/03), and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (9/24). Nearly every week of the summer has at least one blockbuster title.