F9 raced to finish spectacularly in its debut in several overseas territories and quickly set milestones.

On its earnings from eight markets, the latest installment of the hugely popular Fast & Furious franchise marked the biggest international bow for a Hollywood movie during the COVID-19 health crisis period.

F9, directed by Justin Lin, his first since 2013’s Fast & Furious 6, drew $162.4 million in ticket sales. With its $135.6 million earnings in China alone, the movie also known as Fast & Furious 9 claimed bragging rights as the first Hollywood film since Avengers: Endgame (2019) to set a $100 million-plus debut in the Middle Kingdom.

In an overseas rollout strategy that paid off handsomely, Universal Pictures opened the action-adventure top-billed by Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster five weeks earlier than its U.S. release date.

Russia’s $8.2 million ticket sales for the movie, which also stars Charlize Theron, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Helen Mirren, John Cena, Sung Kang, and Kurt Russell, marked the biggest bow during the pandemic in that market.

The ninth main installment and the tenth full-length movie released in the Fast & Furious franchise, whose opening was delayed at least three times, also established box office records in Hong Kong, South Korea, and the Middle East. With all these ticket revenues, F9 has already earned a whopping $6 billion globally.

Elsewhere, movie theaters in the U.K. finally flung their doors open. That development boosted director Will Gluck’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway which encouraged families to troop to England’s cineplexes again and resulted in a $6.4 million box office take.

The live-action/animation hybrid, featuring James Corden, Elizabeth Debicki, Lennie James, Margot Robbie, Rose Byrne, David Oyelowo and Domhnall Gleeson, also performed strongly earlier in Australia and New Zealand.

One of the movies whose release was delayed by the pandemic, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway finds Mr. Thomas McGregor, Bea, and the rabbits settling into a makeshift family but Peter’s mischievousness again sets various adventures in motion.

In the domestic box office market, Lionsgate’s Spiral: From the Book of Saw, led by Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, Dan Petronijevic, Richard Zeppieri, Patrick McManus, and Ali Jonhson, stayed number one on its second week with $4.55 million.

Added to the crime-horror-mystery’s overseas cumulative take of $6.72 million, the movie helped propel the Saw franchise to reach the billion-dollar benchmark in the global market.

Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham’s Wrath of Man hung on to the second spot in the North American box office race with $2.9 million. In what is described as the lull before the box office heats up again next weekend when Craig Gillespie’s Cruella and John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place Part II open, Angelina Jolie’s Those Who Wish Me Dead took in $1.8 million.

Comprising the rest of the top 10 were Raya and the Last Dragon ($1.6 million), Godzilla vs. Kong ($1.4 million), Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train ($1.3 million), Mortal Kombat ($935,000), Dream Horse ($844,000), Finding You ($670,000), Profile ($500,000) and Tom and Jerry ($330,000).