Box Office: ‘Fate of the Furious’ Dominates Newcomers on Friday

Seth Kelley

“The Fate of the Furious” keeps on rolling.

The eighth Fast and Furious film, from Universal, raced ahead of the box office newcomers on Friday evening, earning $11.2 million at 4,329 locations. While last weekend, the high-speed blockbuster shattered records with $532.5 million worldwide and seemed to signal that summer box office season had started early, this frame’s new offerings beg to differ.

None of the films opening this weekend should even crack the top five, which should be rounded out by Fox’s “The Boss Baby,” Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Warner Bros.’ “Going in Style” and Fox Searchlight’s “Gifted,” respectively.

Warner Bros.’ “Unforgettable” starring Katherine Heigl and Rosario Dawson earned $1.7 million on Friday from 2,417 theaters on its way to a $4 – $5 million opening. The revenge thriller tells the story of a scorned lover (Heigl) who pathologically torments her ex-husband’s new interest (Dawson). Denise Di Novi directed the film on a $12 million production budget. Disney’s “Born in China” featuring the voice of John Krasinski should land in about the same range after picking up $1.6 million from 1,508 spots.

“The Promise” is falling short after earning $1.4 million from 2,251 locations. Its current weekend estimates stand at $4 million. Set during the Armenian Genocide and starring Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale, the movie from Open Road Films on behalf of Survival Pictures has pledged to donate all proceeds to philanthropy.

The sci-fi horror film from Cinelou Films and director Justin Barber made $621,000 from 1,592 locations. Ben Wheatley’s British action-comedy “Free Fire,” distributed in the U.S. by A24, fired up $381,000 from 1,070 theaters.

“Fate and the Furious” should easily stay on top of the pack by the weekend’s end, but its second frame — targeting $35 million domestically, or a decline of over 60% — is seeing a pretty steep drop. Globally, though, the studio is predicting an enormous sum of over $900 million by the end of the weekend. On Friday Variety reported that the studio is considering a spinoff of the franchise featuring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Charlize Theron.

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