14 DAY TRIAL // Never underestimate the combined power of Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, to name just a couple of the stars of “Fast & Furious 6.” The most recent installment in the franchise killed it at the North American box office over the weekend.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that the film, though derided by critics and even by some diehard fans, helped make this the biggest Memorial Day weekend of all times in terms of ticket sales.
The film opened to $38.2 million (€29.5 million) on Friday for a projected $119.3 million (€92.2 million) debut. Just in case you were wondering, the seventh film is already in the works – and has been since before the release of the sixth.
This weekend’s other big opener, the third and final installment in the “Hangover” franchise, turned out not to be so big.
“Hangover III, from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, is anticipating a $54 million gross for the four-day holiday weekend and a five-day bow of $65 million [€41.7 million] – a tepid showing in comparison to the $135 million [€104.3 million] earned by The Hangover Part II during the same stretch in 2011,” THR says.
To add insult to injury, many critics deemed it unnecessary and unfunny.