'The Fate of the Furious' is days away from a $1 billion box office
Sometime during the coming week, The Fate of the Furious will become the second billion-dollar movie in Universal's fast-cars-and-big-explosions franchise.
Current weekend estimates in the United States and beyond bring the movie's global total to $908.4 million. It's already the second best worldwide box office in series history, behind the $1.5 billion earned by Furious 7 in 2015.
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Notably, the bulk of that success comes from foreign audiences. Fate picked up an estimated $38.7 million domestically in its second weekend. Good enough for an easy #1 finish in the U.S., but less than a quarter of what it earned outside the country.
In fact, Fate's estimated international weekend of $163.4 million is just a hair shy of the movie's 10-day U.S. total of $163.6 million.
Granted, "foreign" in this case refers to the 65 markets where The Fate of the Furious has already opened. The U.S. is one of the biggest film markets in the world, but China — where the movie has already grossed $193.3 million — is arguably larger.
All of which is to say: The Fate of the Furious has proven itself to be a global success. Audiences around the world clearly appreciate the diverse ensemble cast of recognizable names and the set piece-driven action.
While Fate is locked in as the domestic #1 for this weekend, The Boss Baby continues to hang on. The family-friendly animated feature from Fox picked up an estimated $12.8 million domestically in its fourth weekend.
It's already a success, with roughly $137 million at the U.S. box office and another $221.1 million outside the country. And it may yet stick around a while longer; the next remotely family-friendly release isn't until Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 on May 5. And it's not until May 19 that the definitively for-kids movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul arrives.
