“Fast & Furious 7” opened on April 3 in theaters worldwide and drove all the way to a record-breaking opening weekend at the box office in the US.
The seventh installment of the very successful “Fast & Furious” franchise debuted with a remarkable $143.6 million domestic opening gross, besting the $95 million debut at the box-office of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” last year.
The phenomenal showing of “Fast & Furious 7” at the box-office in its first few days made it the highest grossing opening weekend for the “Fast & Furious” franchise. It has also landed ninth overall in the list of top 10 highest-grossing opening weekends in history, reports The Nation.
The selling point
Aside from its powerhouse cast and fast-paced car action sequence, many are attributing the success of “Fast & Furious 7” also to the recent demise of actor Paul Walker, who has been a pioneer in the franchise along with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster.
Paul Walker ironically died due to car accident in November 2013 at the age of 40 while he and his friend were on their way to a social outreach event.
Fans were surely intrigued on how Director James Wan seamlessly used and intertwined digital technology and several series stand-ins to make it look like that Paul Walker actually shot the scenes even if filming actually ended months after his death.
Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com says that Walker’s death has really made “Fast & Furious 7” more interesting and intriguing for people, especially those who did not have the opportunity to see some of the franchise’s instalments. Contrino added that it really raised awareness and that the success of the film can be the best tribute to Paul Walker.
Big-budgeted
Just like previous films of the franchise, Universal Pictures has allotted a $190 million production budget for “Fast & Furious 7,” which means that its opening weekend performance at the box office alone already covered 75% of the production budget.
The movie, which features fast cars and gravity-defying stunts, has opened in 4,003 North American theaters, earning $14 million from about 365 Imax screens, and $11.5 million from premium large format screens.
While box office analysts were predicting the movie to open with a gross of $115 million, the film certainly went beyond projections and expectations.
Overseas, “Fast & Furious 7” opened in 10,500 theaters in 63 countries, and earning $240.5 million, which made Contrino to quip that the film will definitely be the next member of the billion dollar club and make it part of the elite films in Hollywood.
“Fast & Furious 7” starts from the ending of the sixth installment of the franchise. The gang was almost back to their normal lives when the older brother of Owen Shaw, previously played in “Fast & Furious 6” by Luke Evans, came back to haunt them one by one. Deckard Shaw, played by Jason Statham, is out to get some revenge for his brother and that’s where all the slam-bang action begins.
In addition to Vin Diesel and Paul Walker (shades of him in most parts of the film actually), the other returning cast members include Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludarcris, Dwayne Johnson and Lucas Black. Statham and Russell play the antagonists’ role. Other stars in the movie include Tony Jaa, Djimon Hounsou, Nathalie Emmanuel and Ronda Rousey.