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Box Office Report: Furious 7 Races To #1, Sets Franchise Record

Now must a pretty good time to work at Universal Pictures. In just 10 days, Furious 7 has sped up the box office charts and is now the seventh biggest grosser in the company's history. The sixth sequel to The Fast and the Furious dropped 59% but still zoomed ahead of anything else playing in theaters, earning an estimated $60.6 million in its sophomore weekend. That is the 12th biggest second weekend of all time, just behind The Dark Knight Rises ($62.1 million). Despite that hefty drop, the film held better in its second lap than the past three films in the franchise, which dropped between 61% and 64%. The slightly lower dip can be contributed to strong word-of-mouth and minimal new competition this weekend.

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Two March hits rounded out the Top Five with small drops, likely due to a lack of new films opening. Will Ferrell-Kevin Hart team-up Get Hard dropped just 34% to bring in another $8.6 million. With $71.2 million so far, the comedy should get to the $90 million mark by the end of its run, a solid if not spectacular finish for a film with this inspired comic pairing. Meanwhile, Cinderella earned $7.2 million in its fifth weekend, a drop of just 29% from Easter. With $180.8 million so far, the film should dance with crossing the double-century mark in the not-too-distant future.

Meanwhile, three adult-oriented films expanded to wider release this weekend to decent results. The Helen Mirren drama Woman in Gold added more than 1,000 theaters and nearly tripled its take from last weekend, bringing in $5.9 million. Despite mixed reviews, the lack of options for mature audiences has worked in the film’s favor. With $9.3 million so far, the film should hold well throughout the month.

In ninth and tenth place were Danny Collins and While We’re Young. The former, starring Al Pacino as a washed-up pop star, only made $1.6 million despite a wide release. Expect that title to burn out quickly at the box office. Meanwhile, the Ben Stiller-Naomi Watts comedy made $1.4 million but from fewer than 250 locations, meaning its per-theater average was much better than Danny Collins. After runs in limited release, the two films have totals of $2.5 million and $2.4 million, respectively.

In limited release, A24 saw disarming results for Ex Machina, Alex Garland’s sci-fi drama starring Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson. In just four cinemas, the film earned an amazing $250,000 (or $62,500 per theater). That platform opening is the second-best for the indie distributor, after 2013’s Spring Breakers, which is currently the studio’s biggest grosser. The sci-fi flick will expand to more locations in the coming weeks.

Here are the numbers for the Top 10 films at the North American box office for the weekend of April 3 through 5, 2015:

1. Furious 7 – $60.6 million ($252.5 million total)
2. Home – $19 million ($129.6 million total)
3. The Longest Ride – $13.5 million (NEW)
4. Get Hard – $8.6 million ($71.2 million total)
5. Cinderella – $7.2 million ($180.8 million total)
6. The Divergent Series: Insurgent – $6.9 million ($114.8 million total)
7. Woman in Gold – $5.9 million ($9.3 million total)
8. It Follows – $2 million ($11.8 million total)
9. Danny Collins – $1.6 million ($2.5 million total)
10. While We’re Young – $1.4 million ($2.4 million total)

NOTE: These numbers are weekend estimates based on Friday and Saturday’s estimated takes. Actual numbers for the three-day weekend are reported on Monday afternoon.