Never underestimate the power ofVin DieselandThe Rock. More so, never underestimate the power of theFast and Furiousfranchise. This weekend,The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment of the incredibly reliable franchise, opened in theaters and set an incredibly impressive record.The Fate of the Furioushas officially surpassedStar Wars: The Force Awakensworldwide opening box office record.
According toVariety,The Fate of the Furiousbrought in a tremendously impressive $532.5 million over the weekend. That means it was narrowly able to beat the $529 million worldwide opening weekend box office thatStar Wars: The Force Awakensmanaged to bring in back in 2015. $100.5 million of that came domestically forFast 8, but that is quite a steep drop off fromFurious 7, which brought in $147 million domestically when it opened. Still, the$532 million openingproves this franchise is more viable than ever.
“Now thatDom and Lettyare on their honeymoon and Brian and Mia have retired from the game and the rest of the crew has been exonerated the globetrotting team has found a semblance of a normal life. But when a mysterious woman (Charlize Theron) seduces Dom into the world of crime he can’t seem to escape and a betrayal of those closest to him, they will face trials that will test them as never before. From the shores of Cuba and the streets of New York City to the icy plains off the arctic Barents Sea, our elite force willcrisscross the globeto stop an anarchist from unleashing chaos on the world’s stage…and to bring home the man who made them a family.”
What is perhaps most impressive is thatThe Fate of the Furious, after just a singleweekend in theaters, is now the fourth highest-grossing movie in theFast and the Furious franchiseoverall.The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift($158.5 million),The Fast and the Furious($207.3 million),2 Fast 2 Furious($236.4 million) andFast and Furious($363.2 million) all grossed less during their entire run thanFast 8managed in just a few days. The movie has also helped push the franchise to a grand total of $4.42 billion and could easily put it over the $5 billion mark by the time it finishes its run at the box office. As it stands,Furious 7is the highest-grossing movie in the franchise, with $1.51 billion worldwide. That number is definitely in reach forThe Fate of the Furiousat this point.
The cast forFast 8includesVin Diesel,Dwayne Johnson,Jason Statham,Michelle Rodriguez,Tyrese Gibson,Chris “Ludacris” Bridges,Nathalie Emmanuel,Elsa Pataky,Kurt Russell,Charlize Theron,Scott Eastwoodand,Helen Mirren. The movie is directed byF. Gary Gray, who most recently directedStraight Outta Compton.The Fate of the Furiousis in theaters everywhere now.
