Who would have thought that the Fast and Furious film franchise, at this stage, would be pulling in these kind of numbers? Fast Five grossed an explosive $83.6 million and has Justin Lin to thank for one of the most successful entries of the Fast and Furious franchise. The fifth chapter of the Fast and Furious franchise had out grossed its predecessors in one weekend alone. Universal’s box office hit stall may have ended due to its decision to shift its gears for their high-octane car franchise, changing it from an underground street racing focus to an action heist film with cars.
Prom was second of the three new debuts to open in the top five with a rather forgetful $5 million. Rio, Madea, and Water for Elephants also earned top five slots at the box office this weekend and combined for approximate $34 million over the weekend.
Accelerating towards the number one spot, Universal’s Fast Five has grossed an explosive $83.6 million in its opening weekend, leaving its preceding Fast and Furious films in the dust. Directed by Justin Lin, the film averaged $22,950 in 3,644 theaters. In what has been considered one of the weakest years’ in film, the fifth entry in the Fast and Furious franchise was able to pick up the box office slack that Hollywood has been experiencing in the past few months.
Universal studio execs are breathing a sigh of relief as they have waited for a box office smash of their own for quite some time. Fast Five was even able to double the numbers that Universal’s previous April hit Hop produced. This weekend’s total was high enough to break the record for the biggest box office opening in April, a record that was previously held by Fast and Furious.
In the midst of Fast Five’s box office boom, Rio fell into third place and grossed an impressive $14 million. After spending two weeks at the number one spot, Rio took its cumulative gross to $103.7 million. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family grossed $10.5 million and lost the expected audience most Tyler Perry films lose after the first weekend. The film has grossed $41 million in its ten-day run.
In fourth place was Water for Elephants with $9.1 million over the weekend, taking its ten-day run to $32.2 million. Disney’s Prom rounded out the top five with a less than impressive $5 million.
With Thor opening in theaters this weekend in regular 2D, 3D, and digital IMAX 3D, its unlikely that Fast Five will be able to replicate or even ball park the numbers that the new Marvel film will generate. Still there shouldn’t be any doubt that Fast Five will still have a moderate to successful sophomore weekend run. Marvel’s film based on the Asgardian god made its international debut last weekend and grossed about $93 million, making it one of Hollywood best overseas launches of 2011.
- Fast Five $83,600,000; $83.6
- Rio $14,400,000; $103.6
- Madea’s Big Happy Family $10,050,000; $41
- Water for Elephants $9,125,000; $32.2
- Prom $5,000,000; $5
- Hoodwinked Too! $4,100,000; $4.1
- Soul Surfer $3,300,000; $33.7
- Insidious $2,680,000; $43.3
- Hop $2,550,000; $105.2
- Source Code $2,530,000; $48.
