Universal’s Furious 7 dominated to the box office with a record-breaking $143.6 million in its debut weekend, the biggest opening for the month of April.
Furious 7, who took the crown from Captain America: The Winter Soldier and its $95 million premiere, now stands as the highest-grossing debut in the Fast and Furious franchise. In addition to its many achievements, the action thriller ranks ninth among the top 10 openings in history.
Moviegoers, who were 51 percent male and 44 percent under the age of 25, flocked to theaters to see the late Paul Walker in one of his final roles. The actor passed away in a car crash in 2013, and so with the use of CGI, voice effects, and stand-ins, his character was able to remain in order to complete the storyline.
“This is a bittersweet installment in the franchise,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. “[Walker’s] passing made this movie more intriguing for people who hadn’t seen some of the installments. It raised awareness and its success is a tribute to him.”
James Wan’s $190 million-production, which debuted in 4,003 theaters across North America, was previously estimated to open with about $115 million. However, updates quickly spread and re-predicted a much higher gross amount.
“This is the next member of the billion-dollar club, and that’s a rarefied place to be,” said Contrino. “This thing is on fire.”
Audience members gave the film an A Cinemascore and strong reviews, while critics gave it an 83 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film, starring Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel and Walker, follows the story of Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) seeking revenge against Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his family for the death of his brother.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal is planning three more installments in the franchise but hasn’t announced any details, including whether Wan will return to direct.
Last weekend’s box office winner, Home, landed in second place with an additional $27.4 million in it’s second week. DreamWorks Animation’s family feature has accumulated a domestic total of about $95.6 million. Following in third place is the R-rated comedy Get Hard with $12.9 million. The Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart team-up, which fell about 62 percent from its initial debut numbers, has gathered $57 million domestically.
Disney’s Cinderella snagged the fourth spot on the charts, picking up an additional $10.3 million, and pushing its domestic total to $167.3 million and nearly $400 million globally.
Rounding out the top five at the box office is The Divergent Series: Insurgent with $10 million. Its domestic grand total has reached $103.4 million, as well as a global grand total of $223.6 million.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: March 27-29
- Furious 7— $143.6 million
- Home — $27.4 million
- Get Hard — $12.9 million
- Cinderella — $10.3 million
- Divergent Series: The Insurgent— $10 million
- It follows — $2.5 Million
- Woman In Gold — $2 million
- Kingsman: The Secret Service — $1.7 million
- Do you Believe? — $1.5 million
- The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel — $1 million
