Record-breaking debut for newest 'Fast and Furious' flick

THE Fate of the Furious debuted in super-high gear this weekend, taking in US$100.2 million (RM441.33 million) on North American screens and roaring to record global revenues of more than a half-billion dollars, industry analysts estimated Sunday.
Exhibitor Relations said the latest chapter in Universal Studio's Fast and Furious series accounted for nearly two-thirds of North American revenues over the three-day Easter weekend, leaving previous frontrunner The Boss Baby, a Fox/DreamWorks animation, in its dust with just US$15.5 million (RM68.27 million) in sales.
Behind megastars Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, the latest Furious film opened exceptionally well in the rest of the world.
Led by China, which set a three-day record of US$190 million (RM836.85 million), the film brought in US$432.3 million (RM1.9 billion) in some 60 countries.
It was the No. 1 film everywhere, website BoxOfficeMojo.com reported.
The US$532.5 million (RM2.34 billion) global debut, once North American revenues added in, would break the record of US$529 million (RM2.33 billion) held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
It would also surpass such other box-office monsters as Jurassic World ($524.9 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($483.2 million).
The film, directed by F. Gary Gray of Straight Outta Compton fame, also features Charlize Theron, Tyrese Gibson and hip-hop star Ludacris.
In it, Diesel's Dom Toretto character is coerced to join forces with a cyberterrorist played by Theron, who turns him against his team.
For all its strong showing, the manic muscle-car-filled film earned nearly a third less in its first North American weekend than the previous Fast and Furious chapter, which drew US$147.2 million (RM648.34 million).
But Universal is not about to apply the brakes: additional Furious chapters are planned for release in 2019 and 2021.
Beauty and the Beast continued to draw viewers to North American theaters this weekend, earning US$13.6 million (RM59.90 million) in its fifth week.
The Disney blockbuster, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, has taken in US$454.7 million (RM2.002 billion) domestically while pushing past US$1 billion (RM4.40 billion) internationally.
The animated Smurfs: The Lost Village from Sony was fourth with US$6.5 million (RM28.63 million). That was half its opening take from a week earlier.
Holding fifth spot on North American screens was Going in Style. The Warner Bros. comedy, starring Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin and Michael Caine as aging bank robbers, had weekend sales of US$6.3 million (RM27.75 million).
Rounding out the top 10 were:
Gifted ($3.0 million)
Get Out ($2.9 million)
Power Rangers ($2.9 million)
The Case for Christ ($2.7 million)
Kong: Skull Island ($2.7 million)
— AFP Relaxnews