Vin Diesel Says ‘Cinema is Back!’ As ‘F9’ Breaks Pandemic Box Office Record

‘F9’ crushed the previous pandemic record held by ‘A Quiet Place Part II.’

F9/Universal

F9 blew the doors off the movie box office this weekend—becoming the world’s highest-grossing movie since the COVID-19 pandemic forced movie theaters to shut their doors in 2020.

The ninth Fast and Furious sequel raced to a record-breaking $70 million at the domestic box office over its opening weekend — topping the recent record held by John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place Part II which brought in $48.3 million.

Star Vin Diesel celebrated by issuing a triumphant statement celebrating the film’s success.

“I think what feels best is just the idea that people are returning to the theatrical experience. It feels good to say, ‘Cinema is back!’” said Diesel, who appeared with F9 co-star Charlize Theron in support of an event for the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP), reports the New York Post.

Diesel, aka Dom Toretto in the long-running action movie franchise, praised F9 studio Universal for holding off on a streaming release during the pandemic and waiting for theaters to reopen instead.

“You can’t fault another studio for wanting to stream a movie, but the ones like Universal are bold enough to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to support the theatrical release.’ I take my hat off to them,” Diesel said.

Meanwhile, in unrelated Fast & Furious news, the custom Toyota Supra driven by late FF actor Paul Walker just sold for $550,000, becoming the most expensive Supra ever.

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