If you were thinking that The Fast and the Furious franchise was close to running out of gas, think again. The latest instalment in the juggernaut series, The Fate of the Furious, just had a massive weekend (as predicted), racing to $532.5 million to give it the biggest worldwide box office opening of all-time. That puts it past Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($529 million), with $100.2 million coming in from domestic showings and over 80% arriving from international markets.
Speaking of which, a huge portion of its earnings came from China, where it brought in $190 million, giving it the biggest 3-day start of all-time in that territory and the number 1 debut for a Hollywood film. It’s also the second best opening weekend ever in China, behind 2016’s The Mermaid.
It seems that mediocre reviews and reports of on-set feuds weren’t enough to slow down Dominic Toretto and crew, proving that there’s still a lot of life left in this franchise. It’s a good thing, too, as Universal’s already got a few more sequels planned, not to mention they’re no doubt cooking up some spinoff ideas as well. With the next big release not being until May, in the form of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, The Fate of the Furious should continue to rack up some significant numbers for the studio, and it’ll be fascinating to watch just how high it can go.
Elsewhere at the box office this weekend, The Boss Baby took in $15.5 million to bring it up to $116.3 million domestically, while Disney’s smash hit Beauty and the Beast continued to do solid business as well, making another $13.6 million to bring its total Stateside up to a whopping $454.6 million. As for the last two positions on the top 5 list, those go to Smurfs: The Lost Village and Going in Style, with $6.5 million and $6.3 million, respectively.
Circling back to The Fate of the Furious though, this is certainly surprising news. While estimates were high, I don’t think anyone predicted the film having the biggest opening weekend of all-time. If it keeps up at this pace, a $2 billion worldwide total wouldn’t be out of the question. The middling reviews could ultimately slow it down a bit, but with the next few weeks looking clear of competition, the suits at Universal should have nothing to worry about.
Tell us, have you caught the latest entry in the juggernaut franchise yet? If so, what did you think of it? Sound off in the usual place and let us know!
