‘Furious 7’ rakes in $140 million on box office debut

by Chinwe Okafor

Barely days after its grand debut, Furious 7 is said to have destroyed records as it raced to the top of the domestic box office, picking up a massive $143.6 million in its opening weekend.

According to Variety, that establishes a new high-water mark for the month of April, blowing past the $95 million debut of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” and standing as the highest-grossing kickoff for any film in the “Fast and Furious” franchise. It also ranks ninth among the top 10 openings in history.

Much as ”The Dark Knight” turned into a memorial for Heath Ledger, audiences flocked to see star Paul Walker in one of his final roles. The actor died in a 2013 car crash at the age of 40, and his work on the film was completed using digital technology and a series of stand-ins.

Universal Pictures spared no expense in bringing the latest chapter in the fast cars and gravity-defying-stunts series to the bigscreen, shelling out $190 million on the production. It unspooled in 4,003 North American theaters, earning $14 million on 365 Imax screens and $11.5 million from premium large format screens. Going into the weekend, most analysts estimated that the film would open in at about $115 million.

Foreign numbers were steroidal. Internationally, the film rolled out across 10,500 screens in 63 territories, earning $240.4 million.

With an A CinemaScore and strong reviews, “Furious 7″ could be one of the few modern blockbusters that hangs on for more than a few weeks. The month of April is lean on blockbuster fare, and “Furious 7″ won’t get serious competition until “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” debuts on May 1.

The opening weekend crowd was impressively diverse, a testament to a series that has drawn strength from its multicultural cast. The audience was 51% male, 44% under age 25, 37% Hispanic, 25% Caucasian, 24% African-American and 10% Asian.

Last weekend’s box office champion, DreamWorks Animation’s “Home,” showed impressive stamina, falling less than 50%. The animated tale picked up $27.4 million in its sophomore frame, pushing its domestic total to $95.6 million.

In third place, R-rated comedy “Get Hard” earned $12.9 million. The Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart team-up fell 62% from its opening number, bringing its Stateside haul to $57 million.

“The Divergent Series: Insurgent” rounded out the weekend top five, nabbing $10 million and driving the film to $103.4 million domestically.

Among arthouse releases, Noah Baumbach’s “While We’re Young” expanded from four to 34 theaters, picking up $492,976. The A24 release has earned $791,450 in two weeks.

The Weinstein Company was particularly bullish on the reception for “Woman in Gold,” a drama about the fight to recover art stolen by the Nazis. The film picked up $2 million from 258 locations and will expand to between 800 and 1,000 venues this coming weekend.

“The film is definitely poised for a long, long run,” said Erik Lomis, the studio’s distribution chief. “That’s a really solid start.”

Thanks to “Furious 7,” the overall box office reached $218 million, marking the first time that ticket sales have crossed $200 million over the Easter weekend.

“These huge results jump start momentum for the blockbuster summer season, suggesting that 2015 is shaping up to be everything (and maybe even more) that the industry has been hoping for,” said Greg Foster, CEO of Imax Entertainment.

In other words, “Furious 7″ just dropped the mic.

Source: Variety.com

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