Box Office: ‘Furious 7′ Becomes Highest Grossing Sequel In ‘Fast & Furious’ Series In 10 Days!

It took Fast & Furious 6fifteen weeks to final its domestic cume at $238.67M during the summer of 2013, and it will take Furious 7 just 10 days to unseat that film as the highest grossing title in the Fast & Furious franchise.  Universal sees Furious 7 clocking a second weekend of $60.6M at 4,022 raising the pic’s 10-day cume to $252.5M by end of today. That’s a 59% decline which is slightly better than the -64% that  Fast and Furious 6 registered in its second sesh.  Last night, Saturday tickets sales saw a 35% spike over Friday’s studio-reported $18.8M bringing the cume to $236.07M.  Furious 7‘s second weekend of $60.6 is the third best sophomore sesh for a film playing prior to summer, ranking behind the No. 2 frames of American Sniper ($64.6M) and Alice in Wonderland ($62.7M). Among the all-time best second weekends at the B.O., Furious 7 ranks 12th.

While Furious 7 and a number of studio pics were hogging up the top portion of the box office charts, arthouse distribs took advantage of the opportunity to serve older, smarter audiences by widening up some of their prestige pics. Hence, the expansions of Weinstein Co.’s Woman in Gold, Bleecker’ Street’s Danny Collins and A24’s Noah Baumbach film While We’re Young respectively took spots 7, 9 and 10 with the latter generating $1.3M from 242 playdates for a PTA of $5,598 (Brian Brooks will weigh in more about their success in his indie post).

Large format and Imax accounted for 14% of Furious 7‘s second weekend, which has greatly rocketed it past its previous installment. When  Fast and Furious 6 was released in May 2013, it was only in a handful of Imax situations since Star Trek Into Darkness had the Vulcan grip on the majority of the large format brand’s theaters. Strong play for Furious 7 is coming out of the west and the south central region of the United States. Universal is already hearing from exhibs that repeat viewing is impacting ticket sales. Where’s the finish line for Furious 7 stateside? One non-Uni box office analyst who has run various projection models believes that Furious 7 could get as high as $375M at the domestic B.O.

In second, DreamWorks Animation’s Home from 20th Century Fox took in $19M, down just 30% in its third frame at 3,703 theaters for a running cume of $129.55M.  Total domestic cume for Home is currently pacing ahead of last year’s DWA champ How to Train Your Dragon 2 by 6%.

Below are the studio reported top 10 films for the weekend of April 10-12:

1).  Furious 7 (UNI), 4,022 theaters (+18)/ $18.8M Fri. / $25.3M Sat. (+35%)/ $16.4M Sun. (-35%) / 3-day cume: $60.6M (-59%)/ Total Cume: $252.5M/ Wk 2

2). Home (FOX/DW), 3,703 theaters (-98) / $5.5M Fri. / $8.1M Sat. (+45%)/ $5.3M Sun. (-34%) / 3-day cume: $19M (-30%) / Total cume: $129.6M / Wk 3

3).  The Longest Ride (FOX), 3,366 theaters / $5.5M Fri./$4.9M Sat. (-11%)/ $3.1M Sun. (-37%) /3-day cume: $13.5M / Wk 1

4). Get Hard (WB), 3,132 theaters (-80) / $2.6M Fri./ $3.6M Sat. (+37%)/ $2.3M Sun. (-35%) / 3-day cume: $8.6M (-34%) / Total cume: $71.2M / Wk 3

5). Cinderella (DIS), 3,025 theaters (-379) / $2.2M Fri. / $3M Sat. (+34%)/ $1.8M Sun. (-39%) / 3-day cume: $7.2M (-29%) / Total cume: $180.7M / Wk 5

6). Insurgent (LG), 3,118 theaters (-324) / $2.1M Fri. / $3M Sat. (+39%)/ $1.6M Sun. (-44%) / 3-day cume: $6.85M (-32%) / Total cume: $114.8M / Wk 4

7). Woman in Gold (TWC), 1,504 theaters (+1,246) / $1.8M Fri. /$2.3M Sat. (+31%)/ $1.6M Sun. (-30%) / 3-day cume: $5.85M (+180%)/ Total cume: $9.3M/ Wk 2

8). It Follows (RAD), 1,633 theaters (-22) /$634K Fri./  $844K Sat. (+33%)/ $549K Sun. (-35%) / 3-day cume: $2M (-19%)/ Total cume: $11.7M / Wk 5

9). Danny Collins (BST), 739 theaters (+656) / $465K Fri. / $683K Sat. (+47%)/ $450K Sun. (-34%) / 3-day cume: $1.6M (+361%)/ Total cume: $2.5M / Wk 4

10). While We’re Young (A24), 246 theaters (+212) / $396K Fri. /$567K Sat. (+43%)/ $397K Sun. (-30%) / 3-day cume: $1.37M (+181%) / Total cume: $2.35M / Wk 3

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Furious 7: A Record-Breaking Opening Weekend!

The best ever debut in the Fast and the Furious franchise’s history.

As expected, Furious 7 absolutely dominated this weekend’s box office, smashing records as it raced off with an estimated $143.6 million domestic debut.

Globally, the James Wan-directed sequel — which was devastated by the death of lead actor Paul Walker during a break in production — made an additional $240.4 million for a worldwide total opening weekend of $384 million.

Related Post: That Was the Lebanese Hyper-car “Lykan Hypersport” In The Fast And Furious 7 Trailer!

This makes Furious 7’s stunning debut a franchise-best openingweekend, the biggest April opening ever, the biggest Easter weekend opening ever, the second-largest pre-summer bow in history, and the biggest opening since The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in 2013. Furious 7 also received an A CinemaScore.

Here are the weekend estimates via Rentrak:

1. Furious 7 $143.6 million

2. Home $27.4 million

3. Get Hard $12.9 million

4. Cinderella $10.3 million

5. The Divergent Series: Insurgent $10 million

6. It Follows $2.5 million

7. Woman in Gold $2 million

8. Kingsman: The Secret Service $1.7 million

9. Do You Believe? $1.5 million

10. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel $1 million

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First official trailer for Fast and Furious 7 released!

The internet has been inundated with the the first official trailer for Fast and Furious 7, the latest installment of the seemingly interminable Universal Pictures franchise.

Little is revealed about the plot, but what it does show likely comprises most of what audiences will see on the big screen — plenty of vehicular chaos, both in the action packed stunts and the collection of aftermarket parts fitted to the cars.

The trailer begins with a vignette in which Diesel, Walker & Partners are dropped out of a cargo plane, faces contorted in slow-mo as if executing the most extreme snowboarding tricks known to man, while sitting in the drivers seats of a Dodge Challenger, Subaru WRX STI, and a 1970 Dodge Charger modified for the Baja 1000.

Then, they fire grappling hooks from said cars, attack a country singer’s tour bus, and jet-set around the globe finding fist fights and scantily clad dancing girls. There are also appearances by the 2015 Dodge Charger, a Bugatti Veyron, a Nissan GT-R, a Lykan Hypersport and no less than three bald men beating each other senseless.

Paul Walker and his brother

Notably, this will be the first installment released since Paul Walker’s death. The actor was killed in a car accident in November 2013 unrelated to the filming. Though plot holes were have never been a concern for the series, it also purports to retcon the story lines from Tokyo Drift and the rest of the series. Furious 7, as some are calling it, arrives in theaters on April 3, 2015.

To finish this latest “Fast” movie, Walker’s brothers Caleb and Cody stepped in and joined the cast to film scenes their brother hadn’t yet done.

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Paul Walker of ‘Fast and Furious’ Dies in Car Crash

Paul Walker, a star of “The Fast and the Furious” film franchise, has died after a car crash.

According to the Associated Press, a publicist said Walker passed away after a car crash in California. A publicist confirmed the actor’s death to the Journal. Walker was 40 years old.

The actor’s Twitter account posted a link to the following note: “It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide. He was a passenger in a friend’s car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news. Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences. – #‎TeamPW”

Born Paul William Walker IV in Glendale, Calif., Walker starred in such films as “Varsity Blues,” “Into the Blue” and “Takers,” but it was “The Fast and the Furious” in 2001 that won him his greatest fame. The movie, which spawned several sequels, featured high-powered vehicles, car chases and street-racing scenes.

“Fast & Furious 6″ has taken in $238,679,850 at the box office so far, according to Box Office Mojo.

The news that Walker had died after a car crash spurred stunned tributes to him on Twitter from friends and fellow actors.

“Paul Walker is the reason I wanted to drive a car in the first place,” one tweet said.