• by Wayne Friedman , July 12, 2021

U.S. theatrical movie business earned the biggest weekend since the pandemic period began -- and the first over $100 million -- totaling $117 million, according to Comscore. National TV marketing dollars has climbed back, too.

A big part of box-office revenue total was the soaring debut of Walt Disney’s “Black Widow” -- at $80 million. In its third week, Universal’s “F9” was a distant second place, pulling in $10.9 million now totaling $141.3 million.

Places three-to-five: Universal Pictures’ “The Boss Baby: Family Business” ($8.7 million for the weekend, $34.7 million, total to date); Universal’s “The Forever Purge” ($6.7 million, $27.4 million in total); and “A Quiet Place Part II” ($3.0 million, $150.7 million).

Comscore estimates 81% of all North American theaters are currently open. The top four movies were each in 3,000-plus theaters -- typically the mark of wide-release films in normal times: “Widow” (4,160); “F9” (3,649); “Boss Baby” (3,688); and “Purge” (3,058).

National TV advertising spend for theatrical movie marketers also has recovered.

Over the last 30 days (June 11-July 10), national TV spending for theatrical movies was estimated to total $70.3 million, according to iSpot.tv. Two years ago, pre-pandemic, the same-month period witnessed $68.7 million in estimated national TV ad spend.