‘Fast 8’ smashes records
The eighth installment of the high-octane action series took $98.8 m North America
Universal’s The Fate of the Furious fell just short of $100 million (Dh367.22 million) in domestic receipts for its debut weekend but smashed the global opening record, industry data showed on Monday.
The eighth installment of the highoctane action series starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriquez and Jason Statham took $98.8 million in North America, according to industry monitor Exhibitor relations. It was a sharp drop from the $147.2 million debut by
Furious 7 in 2015 but strong performance overseas meant it was able to smash the Jurassic World record international opening of $316.7, with a massive $432.3 million from 63 international markets.
That included $190 million in China the biggest ever debut for any film in the world’s second largest economy - bringing its total global opening to $532 million and breaking the previous record of $529 million held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). “It’s a sign that a franchise built around muscle cars and odes to the importance of family is growing more global in scope,” wrote Brett Lang, senior film and media editor for trade magazine Variety in an online commentary. The Fast and Furious franchise, which added Charlize Theron for the latest installment, has now amassed $4.4 billion worldwide over its eight movies. Elsewhere in the domestic top five, The Boss Baby beat Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to the runner-up spot with $16 million, bringing its three-week total to $116.8 million. Alec Baldwin voices the chief baby in the DreamWorks production, distributed by Fox.