Over the weekend, Hollywood received news that had the industry cheering. “F9,” the latest entry in Universal’s seemingly unsinkable “Fast and Furious” franchise, put up massive box office numbers overseas. The film took in $163 million from just eight foreign markets, a weekend haul that was as strong as major international debuts in the pre-pandemic era and marked the biggest movie opening since the COVID-19 outbreak began. Understandably, the figure had the entertainment media humming, if not outright singing, “Happy days are here again.”
There was just one problem. More than 80% of those earnings — $136 million — came from a single nation: China.
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