‘Furious’ on road to record global debut

The eighth installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise was on its way Sunday to becoming the biggest worldwide debut of all time, besting both “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Jurassic World.”

Universal Pictures estimated Sunday that “The Fate of the Furious” would earn a record $532.5 million worldwide over the holiday weekend, thanks to a particularly robust showing in 63 territories, including China. If the figures hold, it would just inch past the previous record holder, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which launched to $529 million in December 2015 without China.

The film broke the record for biggest international weekend ever, with $432.3 million. The previous record holder was “Jurassic World” with $316.7 million. An estimated $100.2 million of the global total comes from 4,310 North American theaters — a second best for the franchise and enough to easily top the domestic charts, but well below the $147.2 million opening of “Furious 7” in 2015.

“The Fate of the Furious” has many of the returning stars, such as Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese and Ludacris. But it has added some new elements behind the camera in director F. Gary Gray and in front of the camera with Charlize Theron.

The “Fast and Furious” is a global juggernaut for Universal Pictures, which plans two additional pictures. With the addition of “Fast 8,” the franchise has earned an estimated $4.4 billion globally.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES/AP Dwayne Johnson stars in “The Fate of the Furious,” which raced this weekend toward a box-office record.