The Weekend Report: Furious 7 Races to #1 at the Box Office

In which I run down the big winners (and losers) at the box office this weekend.

While there was never any question that Furious 7 was going to walk away from this weekend as the uncontested top performer at the box office, nobody expected it to do nearly as well as it ultimately did.  Until now, the best opening for a movie released in April was last year's Captain America: The Winter Soldier with $95 million domestically.  But that was a Marvel movie - guaranteed through virtue of branding to make an absurd amount of money.  Even a no-name property like Guardians of the Galaxy shattered August records with at a touch over $94 million its opening weekend.

2013's Fast & Furious 6 had thus far been the franchise's best opening at $97.3.  Even then, however, it was a May release, well into the established summer blockbuster season.  Kids were out of school and looking for something to do during the week with their spare change.

Furious 7 was only expected to do $115 million this weekend: well past both its franchise best and the current April record-holder.  After making $16 million on Thursday night - a total that climbed to $67 million by Friday - industry analysts readjusted their expected figures.

When all was said and done, Furious 7 raked in $146.6 million domestically and an additional $240.4 million overseas for a global total of $384 million.  This gives the movie the fourth highest global opening of all time, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ($483.2 million), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394.4 million) and Marvel's own The Avengers ($392.5 million).

While several factors can be attributed to this unprecedented success, the chiefest one is undoubtedly the mid-production death of series star Paul Walker.  Even the actor's non-fans often spoke fondly of him, and his tribute at the end of the movie reportedly drove many movie-goers to tears.  Combined with the series' recently up-ticked popularity and its general lack of competition, it's really no wonder why the movie made money hand over fist.

The weekend's only other new release didn't fair too badly itself, especially considering its limited release.  Woman in Gold debuted at number 7 in the box office standings, pulling in a solid $2 million dollars despite its mixed reviews.  The emotional core of its narrative - especially alongside its decidedly non-dramatic competition - let it fill a need for older audiences with nowhere to be this weekend.

Of the repeat titles from last week, Do You Believe? climbed to 9th place, assisted by the religiosity of the weekend.  Cinderella overtook Insurgent when audiences realized just how bad the latest teenage dystopia flick was.  And pleasantly hanging in the top standings still are Kingsman and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: two movies that I hope will appear on this list for at least one week longer.

Box Office Standings:

1)  Furious 7 - $143.6m

2)  Home - $27.4m

3)  Get Hard - $12.9m

4)  Cinderella - $10.2m

5)  Insurgent - $10m

6)  It Follows - $2.4m
7) Woman in Gold - $2m
8)  Kingsman: The Secret Service - $1.7m
9)  Do You Believe? - $1.5m
10)  The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - $1m

So what movie did you see this last weekend?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Join the Filmquisition on Twitter (@Filmquisition) or by subscribing to this blog.