Box Office: 'Furious 7' Scores Mega $143.6 Million U.S. Debut
By Pamela McClintock
Rivaling the staying power of Hollywood’s most iconic franchises — think Harry Potter and James Bond — Universal’s Furious 7 raced to a massive $143.6 million debut at the North American box office, delivering both a series best and the biggest opening for any movie since The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in November 2013.
Furious 7 — the final film featuring the late Paul Walker — parked in theaters around the globe Easter weekend for a total worldwide bow well north of $300 million (international numbers weren’t immediately available). It’s the second major victory of the year for Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley and her team after Fifty Shades of Grey, which on Good Friday jumped the $400 million mark overseas for a global cume of $566 million through Sunday.
Watch James Wan narrate a stunt scene from ‘Furious 7’:
Related: 'Furious 7' and How Peter Jackson's Weta Created Digital Paul Walker
The desire to see Walker in his final appearance no doubt contributed greatly to Furious 7's stunning performance. Universal intended to open the seventh installment on July 11, 2014, but production was halted in November 2013 when Walker died in a tragic car crash during a Thanksgiving hiatus.
Furious 7 marks the top opening ever for the month of April, and further proves that tentpoles can work outside of summer. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the previous record holder with $95 million on the same weekend a year ago. Thanks to Furious 7, total weekend box office revenue was up more than 33 percent over 2014, and more than 70 percent over the same frame in 2013.
Related: 'Furious 7': Demand Prompts New York Theater to Stay Open All Night
Helping to eradicate a troubling downturn at the U.S. office in 2014, Furious 7 peeled out with the biggest opening since Catching Fire ($158 million). Furious 7 earned $67.3 million on Friday alone, the tenth-best showing of all time, narrowly edging out The Dark Knight and The Hunger Games ($67.2 million each).
Furious 7 easily outpaced any previous title in the franchise, including blockbuster Fast and Furious 6, which topped out at $789 million worldwide. Furious 7 came in 23 percent ahead of that film’s four-day launch over Memorial Day weekend in 2013 ($117 million), and 47 percent ahead of its three-day take ($97 million).
This time out, the plot pits Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and crew (which includes Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson, among others, as well as Walker) against Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, out for revenge after the death of his brother. Dwayne Johnson also reprises his role as Hobbs.
Related:'Fast & Furious' By the Numbers: From Genre Movie to Global Franchise
After Walker’s death, director James Wan, writer Chris Morgan and Universal pored over existing footage and tweaked the script, with production resuming in April 2014. To complete the film, CGI and voice effects were used in some scenes featuring Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner, with Walker’s brothers, Caleb and Cody, used as stand-ins.
Earning an A CinemaScore, Furious 7 boasts the widest release in Universal’s history, playing in 4,003 theaters domestically and on more than 10,500 screens in 63 territories, although it won’t open in China, Japan and Russia until later.
Universal is planning three more installments in the franchise but hasn’t announced any details, including whether Wan will return to direct.
It goes without saying that Furious 7 is made life difficult for the competition. DreamWorks Animation’s family offering Home held in the best, coming in No. 2 in its second outing with roughly $27 million for a domestic total of $95 million
The Will Ferrell-Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard took a big hit, falling a steep 62 percent to $12.9 million for a 10-day domestic total of $57 million. Get Hard came in No. 3, followed by Cinderella and Insurgent.
Radius-TWC and Dimension took a gamble in further expanding critically acclaimed horror film It Follows this weekend despite the onslaught of Furious 7. The film, upping its theater count from 1,218 to 1,655, grossed $2.5 million to come in No. 6. It Follows' cume is $8.5 million.
At the specialty box office, The Woman in Gold, starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds, looked to provide a refuge for adults not so interested in Furious 7. The movie, opening in 258 theaters in select top markets, grossed a solid $2 million to come in No. 7 despite its small footprint. The Weinstein Co. is handling the movie in the U.S.
Watch Michelle Rodriguez talk about her fight scene with Ronda Rousey in ‘Furious 7′:
