'Fate of the Furious' just toppled a major 'Star Wars' box office record
Here's a fun piece of trivia: The Fate of the Furious made more money than the nine other movies behind it in the weekend box office Top 10.
Or how about this one: based on current estimates, The Fate of the Furious is the owner of the biggest worldwide box office opening of all time, with $532.5 million. It comes in just ahead of previous record-holder Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which opened in 2015 with $529 million.
In the United States, Universal's latest physics-mocking installment in a series about fast cars and hand-operated torpedoes comes to an estimated $100.2 million. Assuming that number holds, it's enough for the second-biggest opening in franchise history.
Furious 7, which marked the late series stalwart Paul Walker's final Fast appearance, beats Fate by a wide margin. The 2015 release, which also opened in April, picked up $147.2 million in its first three days.
The Fate of the Furious is also eyeing yet another big record. It's currently poised to exit the weekend as the third-highest April opening of all time, behind Furious 7 at #1 and Disney's live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book ($103.3 million) at #2.
Two others from the series -- Fast Five (2011, $86.2 million opening) and Fast & Furious (2009, $71 million opening) -- are also April hits. Both place in the month's Top 10 for all-time box office openings, at #5 and #6, respectively.
In other words: The Fate of the Furious is an historically massive hit, and the series as a whole continues to prove itself as one of the most bankable blockbusters in Hollywood.
The Boss Baby and Beauty and the Beast claim the weekend's #2 and #3 spots with $15.5 million and $13.6 million, respectively. Baby has held up surprisingly well, with an overall lack of family-friendly competition creating an opportunity.
Beauty, now finishing its fifth weekend, creeps ever-closer to a $500 million U.S. box office, with the current weekend estimate bringing it to $454.6. It may struggle to hit that milestone in the weeks ahead, though -- as with Baby -- the relative dearth of competition should help.
Although it's nowhere near breaching the Top 10 with a limited, four-theater opening and only $112,633 in ticket sales, The Lost City of Z is worth a mention. It's Bleecker Street's second distribution deal with an internet streaming partner -- Amazon, in this case.
Previously, Bleecker Street partnered with Netflix on the theatrical release of Beasts of No Nation. That one opened in more theaters -- 31 in its opening weekend, then 21 in its second -- and grossed $90,777 across two weeks.
Lost City is already proving to be a better bet, with an opening weekend estimate that exceeds Beasts' lifetime total and in far fewer theaters.
All box office figures provided by comScore and Box Office Mojo.
Topics Film
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
