14 DAY TRIAL // Vin Diesel thinks that the latest installment in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, “Furious 7,” which also happens to be Paul Walker’s final movie, stands good chances of winning Best Picture at the Oscars 2016. Time will tell if his prediction was right, but another one he made is becoming reality: “Furious 7” is on its way to being Universal Pictures’ biggest release.
The film opened wide on Friday, April 3, 2015. Not only was it received with very positive reviews from both the critics and the fans, but it also managed to obliterate every other competitor at the box office, at home in the US and in foreign markets.
“Furious 7” is biggest release of April
Variety reports that “Furious 7” made $143.6 million (€130.7 million) in the US, and a total of $384 million (349.6 million) overall, including foreign markets. Since this is just its first weekend gross, and considering that it was made on a budget of $190 million (€173 million), there is no trace of doubt that, indeed, it will become Universal’s biggest hit in a very long time.
As we speak, it’s already brought down a few records, becoming the biggest opener in the entire franchise and the biggest debut for the month of April, taking down Marvel’s “Captain America: The First Avenger,” which previously held the title.
“Furious 7” is also the 9th of the 10 biggest openers ever in the history of film.
Even better, it’s poised for even greater things, not just because of the positive feedback, which will translate into positive word of mouth and thus boost interest in it even more, but also because it will have no direct competitor until May 1, when Marvel releases “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
That means that “Furious 7” has almost the entire month of April at its disposal to make even more money.
A bittersweet moment
“This is a bittersweet installment in the franchise,” Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com, tells Variety. “[Walker’s] passing made this movie more intriguing for people who hadn’t seen some of the installments. It raised awareness and its success is a tribute to him.”
Contrino is convinced that “Furious 7” will soon become a member of the billion-dollar club, and points out that such spectacular box office results aren’t that surprising.
This is, after all, Walker’s final movie. Something similar happened to Christopher Nolan’s second Batman film, “The Dark Knight,” whose box office success is partly attributed to the fact that Heath Ledger passed away shortly after production wrapped.
These things are unfortunate, tragic losses for everyone involved, but at the end of the day, they translate into bigger box office returns. It just happens.