Something about ridiculous CGI setpieces involving planes, trains, and automobiles has really struck a chord with audiences. That’s why the “Fast & Furious” franchise is booming. Over eight films, it’s been reinvented more times than the wheel, flitting genres from illegal street racing to heist films and now to a spy caper-type thing involving an international cyberterrorist played by Charlize Theron who can brainwash people or whatever.
Now, “Fast & Furious 8” has opened to the highest-grossing opening weekend of all-time. Take a minute to let the gravity of that record set in.
More people watched “Fast & Furious 8” this weekend than have ever watched any Film on any weekend in the history of mankind. It beat “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which was the first time audiences got to see Luke, Han, and Leia for thirty years, and “Jurassic World,” which was about scary dinosaurs, and the last “Harry Potter.” Think about that. $100 million’s worth of people cared more about watching Dwayne Johnson throw a torpedo at a car than the last ever time they’d get to see the gang’s magical exploits at Hogwarts. This is probably because Dwayne Johnson throwing a torpedo at a car translates internationally.
The total for the weekend was $566.2 million
$566.2 million is a tremendous opening weekend.
“Fast 8” made in one weekend what 99.9% of films dream about making, and it certainly won’t stop there. The grosses of the “Fast & Furious” films have been steadily increasing over the instalments. The fourth one made $363 million, which was then pretty much doubled by the fifth one (the first reinvention) taking in $629 million, which was then expanded on even further with the sixth one taking in $789 million, and then torn a new one by the seventh with a whopping $1.5 billion worldwide gross.
In one weekend, it’s become the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, behind “Beauty and the Beast,” “Logan,” and “Kong: Skull Island.” The latter two are also within the $500-$600 million margin, so it’ll probably have those beaten within days. “Beauty and the Beast” presents the only challenge, having been a huge success with all markets and grossing over $1 billion, but “Fast 8” will probably get there eventually, and probably much further.
The previous film, “Furious 7,” which to be fair, was helped along by the emotional weight of being Paul Walker’s final appearance, went on to gross over $1.5 billion (as mentioned earlier, but like really, $1.5 billion!).
But “Fast 8” will get there, not because audiences are particularly invested, but because it’s just one of those films everyone in the world has to see for some reason. And Universal Pictures and Vin Diesel and all the producers are laughing all the way to the bank.
