MOVIE: 'Fate of the Furious' Blazes Box Office Records with $532.5 Million Opening Weekend
We thought everyone was tired of ‘Fast and Furious’ movies — but clearly we were wrong.
‘The Fate of the Furious’ smashed global box office records,
bringing
in an estimated $532.5 million worldwide to set a new record for an
opening weekend.
via Variety:
The long-running series, now in its
eighth installment, got a big boost from foreign crowds. The action
thriller earned $432.3 million internationally after bowing in 63
foreign markets. That helped offset declining domestic results. “The Fate of the Furious” opened to $100.2 million in North America, a sharp drop from “Furious 7’s” $147.2 million kick-off.
It’s a sign that a franchise built
around muscle cars and odes to the importance of family is growing more
global in scope. If it wants to continue to expand its audience as it
inevitably ticks through future sequels, it will need to keep building a
fan base in places like China. To that end, the Middle Kingdom
turbocharged results. “The Fate of the Furious” racked up a massive $190
million in the Asian country, setting records for the biggest three-day
opening weekend in history and the top debut for a Hollywood film in
China. “Furious 7” ended its run with $390 million from China — a figure
that “The Fate of the Furious” could match.
“I’m extrapolating, but based on the
reviews and the buzz we’re getting from theaters, I think we can eclipse
that,” said Duncan Clark, president of Universal Pictures
International.
It is worth noting, however, that
Hollywood studios only take in 25% of Chinese ticket sales, roughly half
of what they earn in most major markets. Still, the film business is
breathing a sigh of relief after the results were released. Ticket sales
in China have stalled in recent months after a period of seismic
growth. Part of the issue has been a strengthening U.S. dollar, but
aside from last year’s “Warcraft” and “Zootopia,” it has been months
since Chinese crowds have embraced a big studio blockbuster.
“This is the jolt everybody needed,”
said Greg Foster, CEO of Imax Entertainment. “It proves that if you
provide some revved up entertainment for the [Chinese] market, they’ll
turn up.”
“The Fate of the Furious” also
performed solidly in Mexico, where it earned $17.8 million, the United
Kingdom and Ireland with $17 million, Russia with $14.1 million, Germany
with $13.6 million, and Brazil with $12.8 million. The film did well in
premium formats, with Imax accounting for $31.1 million worth of
revenue, the company’s fourth-biggest global opening.
“This is truly a global franchise,”
said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore. “These movies
translate perfectly into any culture. Fast cars, outrageous stunts —
that’s the international language for something everybody loves.”
Of course, “The Fate of the Furious”
can’t just be a hit. It has to be a blockbuster. All that vehicular
destruction cost $250 million to put on screen. The latest installment
brings back Vin Diesel as Dom Toretto, he of the monosyllable and
tight-fitting t-shirts, and has the character betray his band of
brothers and sisters in the service of a cyber terrorist (Charlize
Theron). Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris,
and Kurt Russell help to round out the cast, with “Straight Outta
Compton” director F. Gary Gray sliding behind the camera.
With “The Fate of the Furious,” the
“Fast and the Furious” films have now earned $4.4 billion worldwide,
making it easily the most successful franchise in Universal’s history
and the eighth highest-grossing film series in history.
That’s impressive!
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