“Furious 7,” which faced the death of a principal cast member, Paul Walker,
before filming was complete, sold an estimated $143.6 million in
tickets at North American theaters — or 47 percent more than “Fast &
Furious 6” took in over its first three days in 2013. “Furious 7”
generated an additional $240.4 million overseas. That action film was
released in 14,009 theaters worldwide.
It was
the biggest April opening in Hollywood history; the previous
record-holder was “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” which took in
$95 million a year ago. Imax said on Sunday that “Furious 7” broke
multiple sales records, including some in foreign markets. A competing network of extra-large movie screens in the United States, led by the Cinemark chain, also reported record sales.
“The
best part is that these huge results jump-start momentum for the summer
season,” said Greg Foster, chief executive of Imax Entertainment.
“Furious 7” carried trailers for coming films like “The Avengers: Age of
Ultron,” “Jurassic World,” “Terminator Genisys” and “Tomorrowland.”
With their diverse ensemble casts, the “Fast
& Furious” movies have long catered to often overlooked black and
Hispanic moviegoers, and those fan bases powered “Furious 7.” Universal
said on Sunday that Hispanic ticket buyers made up 37 percent of the
North American audience. African-Americans made up 24 percent.
Based on the enormous initial interest for
“Furious 7,” box-office analysts said that the movie could take in $1
billion worldwide by the end of its run.
Mr. Walker’s death, which occurred in a chilling life-imitating-art car crash
during a break in production in 2013, required Universal to overhaul
the “Furious 7” script, coax grieving cast members to go back to work,
and come up with digital tricks
to complete Mr. Walker’s scenes. The studio also had to walk a
marketing tightrope, promoting the film with Mr. Walker’s image without
appearing to exploit his death.
“Furious 7,” directed by James Wan, until now known for horror movies like “The Conjuring” and “Saw,” was delayed in its release by nine months.
Challenges aside, “Furious 7” was breathtaking
in its ambition. To fight franchise fatigue, the longtime producer of
the series, Neal H. Moritz, devised a dizzying sequence of stunts — the
old-fashioned kind, not the computer-generated variety. To film one
scene, cars were dropped from a plane flying at 12,000 feet; three sky divers jumped out after them wearing helmet cameras.
The
costs associated with “Furious 7” are hard to calculate given the
production difficulties. Universal spent at least $300 million to make
and market the movie. The studio had been pursuing an additional insurance claim of $50 million.
No other mainstream movies opened against “Furious 7.” Second place for the weekend in North America went to the animated “Home”
(20th Century Fox), which took in an estimated $27.4 million, for a
two-week total of $95.6 million, according to Rentrak, which compiles
box office data. “Get Hard” (Warner Bros.) was third, selling about $12.9 million in tickets, for a two-week total of $57 million.
Credit: Nytimes
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