The Fast & Furious franchise is still happening. It’s been happening for nearly two decades now, which just goes to show you… something. I don’t know. I can honestly say I’ve never seen an entire Fast & Furious movie. I’ve seen parts of various movies on TV, of course, but I always change the channel because… frankly, the acting always seemed terrible to me. But these are beloved films because so many people love cars, car chases, mindless action sequences, hot women and brooding men. So the eighth film in the franchise debuted over Easter weekend and yeah, it made a sh-t ton of money.
Universal’s Fast and the Furious franchise is showing no signs of running out of gas on the world stage. The Fate of the Furious, directed by F. Gary Gray, raced to an estimated $532.5 million global debut over Easter weekend, including $100.2 million domestically and a $432.2 million overseas. If those estimates hold when final numbers are tallied early Monday, Furious 8 will eclipse Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($529 million) to boast the biggest worldwide opening of all time. Either way, it is assured of scoring the top international launch of all time, surpassing fellow Universal title Jurassic World ($316.7 million).
Furious 8 had the advantage of opening day-and-date in China, where it earned a massive $190 million, the biggest three-day bow in history. Overall, the tentpole debuted at No. 1 in all 63 foreign markets, and it did more business than any previous installment in 32 of those.
In North America, Furious 8 scored the second-biggest launch of the franchise behind Furious 7’s $147 million. Furious 7 (2015) was the final film in the series to star Paul Walker, who died in a tragic car crash in November 2013. Globally, Furious 7 launched to $397.7 million (it didn’t open in China until a week later).
“This franchise is showing no sign of wear and tear,” said Universal international distribution chief Duncan Clark. “Fate of the Furious is satisfying audiences on many different levels.”
Long heralded for its diverse cast, Furious 8 played to audiences of all ethnicities and nabbed an A CinemaScore. Domestically, Caucasians made up 41 percent of the audience, followed by Hispanics (26 percent), African-Americans (21) percent, Asians (11 percent) and Native American/Other (3 percent), according to comScore’s exit polling service PostTrack. The pic skewed male at 58 percent, far more than the last film at 51 percent. Gray is making his franchise debut after helming Straight Outta Compton for Universal.
The Fast and Furious movies have collectively grossed more than $3.9 billion globally. Furious 7 was far and away the biggest earner and the only installment to cross $1 billion on its way to finishing its worldwide run with $1.516 billion. Fate of the Furious certainly spooked the competition; no other film opened against it nationwide.
So, some nice stuff: I enjoy the fact that this franchise has always had racially diverse casts, and I enjoy that they’ve hired non-white directors like F. Gary Gray, Justin Lin, James Wan and John Singleton. It’s crazy and sort of awesome that arguably the most profitable and beloved action-franchise in the world is so diverse in front of the camera and behind the camera. As for the rest of it… God bless. These movies aren’t for me, but have at it.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I Knew Upon the 2nd or third Transformers that Good taste was dead but this??… this is preposterous AF
I’m so surprised at all of this. I just assumed that maybe teenage boys went to them. I had no idea they are such a big deal. So they may be huge, but I’ll stay home with a good book.
I imagine many people who watch these films also think Big Bang Theory is a funny show.
I have no problem saying these films are moronic ☺
Exactly, QQ.
This just says… so much about where we’re at as human species right now. I’m embarrassed
Ouch.
I know I’m weird, that I don’t have “friends” here but damn, I’m now lumped in to where we are at as a species because I am huge fan of these movies.
I’ll just stop posting since apparently, I am below even human for liking them. I’ll still read, since I do like this site.
its an action movie/franchise. and a damn good one.
its not out here trying to cure cancer. sheesh. SMDH.
Okay, wow, I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to offend. Please don’t stop posting, Original Kay. Your insights are always great. Honestly, I don’t really see how my comment was so hurtful that it would cause you to stop posting. But obviously it came off badly, and I’m sorry.
This franchise, to me, is pure cheese. All explosions and cars and shots of women’s asses, zero plot or good dialogue or acting talent. Am I saying every single person who watches these films is terrible? No, and I actually never said anything like that.
But the highest grossing opening box office of ALL TIME? For THIS FRANCHISE? Yes. That’s embarrassing. These films have no substance. The dialouge makes me cringe, the gratuitous sexualization of women makes me feel gross, I can never find a plot anywhere in there, and the acting is not that great imo. I’m not hating on anyone who likes them, to each their own. But It’s disappointing that we throw our money at schmaltz like this instead of films with actual artistic merit.
I wasn’t saying people who like fast and furious are responsible for where we are as a species. I’m saying the fact that THIS movie had the biggest opening box office of all time is really symbolic.
awww, og kay, you can sit by me!
This is what people go to the movies for, an escape from reality for a couple of hours. Not every human species want to see a film based on real life or some depressing film. Some of us human species just want to be entertained and laugh a bit. And as human species we have different taste in things we like. Why look down on others because you think we might be lacking in taste because it’s not the same as what you would assume to be good taste.
I’m sure we can find the sexulization of women in plenty of films that some of you do like. And if you can’t find a plot in any of the F&F movies it must mean that you have been watching the franchise right along with us in order to know that.
V4Real
I’m just as allowed to think these movies are crap as you guys are allowed to think they’re great. Both opinions are valid.
As I said in my first reply, I never once said anyone who likes these movies is less than. I’m not looking down on the people who enjoy them. I’m blanching specifically at the fact that THIS film of all films was the highest grossing opening box office of all time. To me, that’s absurd. It’s a not personal attack.
And yes, I have watched the movies. You caught me! I guess that means I’m not allowed to have a negative opinion about them just because I’ve watched them?
My current ego salve is that apparently smart people like bad movies.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304422X16300821
*Monocle on. So my enjoyment of the cars driving UNDER a transport truck (no car is that low c’mon) and hilarious car mods are completely acceptable and in fact a testament to my impeccable taste.
wow ok I totally over reacted and acted like a petulant idiot. I’m sorry, I broke my own cardinal rule of not taking it personally.
Especially sorry to shambles because I wasn’t just replying to your post, but the whole thread, and it looked like I singled you out.
just tell me to get my head out of my ass, it’s not a hat 😛
OK,
I’m really glad you posted this because I was about to say something too, as in, I’m sorry for the way this escalated. *hugs*
I woke up waaay to early and sat in ATL traffic for waaaaay too long, and now I’m over here getting heated over some silly sh!t.
Maybe it’s just really easy to take things personally these days, because the climate in our country is so tense AND so personal. I hope the rest of your day is great!
@Original Kay: I initially felt the same way when I started reading this thread. Lol
Well, I don’t post here as much anymore… But I love FF not for the plot or incredibly acting obviously, I watched for the car chase, incredible stunts and Paul Walker (RIP).
Eh, I’ve liked my share of bad movies but I don’t get why people give these ones a pass. They have huge budgets but they’re written at a second-grade level (and that’s probably generous), the acting is 99% atrocious, and the only way they seem to know how to transition scenes is with repeated close-ups of scantily clad female asses. That’s funny maybe twice, but after ten times it’s just obnoxious. That all might be fine for a $40 million B movie but with the resources they have I find these movies lazy. Things can be fun AND well-made, that’s not a crime. 🙄
@Shambles
Thanks for sharing your opinion. I feel the same way about this franchise. I have a close friend that has watched all of them except the last one because she loved Paul Walker. Now that he’s gone she doesn’t have an interest in seeing another one.
It just a movie, why so extra?
I agree! I watched it last week. It was really bad. The acting, the story..everything! In terms of acting, Charlize really stood out, but her botox face was very distracting. I love mindless action fun, but this instalment simply wasn’t very good. If the saying goes: go big or go home. I’ll go home and watch my DVD box instead.
I feel like every year or so, some movie smashes all the records. Are rising ticket prices factored into sales?
They are not accounting for inflation. Also the Force Awakens and I believe Jurassic Workd openings did not include China. So it didn’t really set a record, it’s just a marketing gimmick.
I always laugh at these “opening weekend” records. They are meaningless marketing. Avatar opened to $77 million and went on to $2.78 BILLION. Now I don’t like that movie but THAT is impressive.
Always listen to Mia4s about box office. It’s not sentiment;it’s dollars and cents.
@Mia4S – yeah, and studios see only 25 percent of Chinese box office gross so this is ultimately meaningless – comparing a day-and-date opening on all major markets (FF8) to one where they actually delayed some markets including major ones (TFA) is dumb.
Also Avatar made a metric sh-tton of money and is the reason 3D became compulsory for all blockbusters but it’s funny how no one seems to speak of it with any affection or liking at all, unlike Titanic etc.
But it did set a record for the biggest opening weekend of all time. Unfortunately JW and The Force opened like a month later in China like the media said. If they had opened in China on the actual opening weekend than maybe it wouldn’t be a record for the franchise. But they are saying biggest opening weekend , not biggest gross of all time. They are correct, inflation or not, which could also be said about JW and The Force. It’s not like those two films were released a decade ago when ticket prices were a bit cheaper.
Oh I know the general public will be like “wow, record for biggest worldwide weekend ever!”, and sure, technically you could say that, but unless they actually compete, that is all the movies open simulatanuously in all the same territories, it is a cheat for PR purposes. Plus add the China opening weekend of Force Awakens or Jurassic World to their numbers and it’s not even close! Jurassic World would be the record holder by almost $100 million!! So at best F&F has the record with a huge “…but***”. I’m not singling out this franchise though, Hollywood does this constantly.
Opening weekend records in general are dumb. I mean this movie as an example will come in $2-300 million less than the last one. Congrats Hollywood, you’re earning less money faster!….Yay?
How is this still going? No, better question would be how are people still watching this? What the hell..
I support this movie solely for the Rock, he’s just too yummy not to look at!
Dwayne Johnson is one of the smartest actors around based his handling of his career. You won’t see him trying HAMLET, but what he does, audiences like.
I actually like these movies and go see them opening weekend with the hubby. The action is truly top notch and the Rock is yummy. His presence to the series added millions to the bottom line. He just shines in what he does.
I think I might be the only person on the planet that hasn’t seen one fast and furious . It’s not really my jam. The commercial was on over the weekend and my husband was cracking up over the submarine popping up over the ice.
Nope, you are not alone. I have literally never seen one second of any of them, and I don’t plan on it. Like, ever.
Here, here! Me neither. Watching car chases gives me a headache. How is it possible that just like Olympic records, box office numbers reach records every year. As if more people go to the movies, when everyone I know is streaming. Shady!
I’ve never seen one. Nor any Transformers. Never will.
Nope. I also have not seen a single one of these movies. They’re not for me, but they are for a lot of other people, evidently!
You’re not the only person who hasn’t seen them, I’m another one! I appreciate the cast’s diversity but cars are not my thing.
I haven’t either @Aims. I’ll go one further and admit I’ve seen very few big franchise films. I feel like the film industry has largely abandoned people like me. I know many women enjoy these action and superhero franchise films but they do seem to be genres driven by a male market.
I dated a car guy for awhile. As such, I have seen up to FF3, and up to that point it was fast tweaked cars and pretty people who didn’t act well. Cheese, but enjoyable.
I have warm feelings about the first one, but really the only things I remember are Vin’s arms and how angry Jordana Brewster’s eyebrows made me. For the record, her eyebrows were fine, but it was the 90s and they were not one brow hair thick, how dare she.
No idea how that combo managed to be so popular.
One was more than enough for me. Looks like these films aren’t going anywhere now it’s broken box office records. Not my taste but obviously others love it.
Thankfully, in spite of the (not really a record) opening weekend record setting, this one will make $200-300 million less than the last one. Still a massive blockbuster of course but the downward trajectory at least means their audience is what it is and is not growing.
Has Vin whined about why they don’t get Oscar nominations this week? 🙄
Similar to Transformers. They have kind of settled at where those movies will be because while international box office grew (seriously guys??), domestic North America dropped by about $100 million. Keep it up North America! We’re doing the Lord’s work!
well, ok. I absolutely love these movies, have seen them multiple times, even tokyo drift.
I can’t explain why, I just love them. No, I’m not a teenage boy (since as my daughter explained, movies have no gender). I’m 45 and a woman and love them so much that I was very upset when Netflix removed most of them 🙁
You can and should like whatever movies you choose. I’m a 64 year old English professor who regularly makes students laugh about my love for Marvel. And your little girl is right. My little girl will tell you gender is just a construct.
nothing more fun than telling the friends of my son (8yo) about the 3000 Marvel Comics I still have from the 90s… or lecturing them about the strength of each character (who can beat who)… 😉
I love them, too, Kay, you aren’t alone. Sure, I know they are sort of crap — but I got to movies to be ENTERTAINED and to have FUN. The real world is miserable and awful enough, I don’t go to movies to spend 2 hours confirming that fact. I go to movies to enjoy myself, and damn if a F&F movie isn’t enjoyable. Hot men, hot women, lots of things blowing up. What’s not to like?
Like what you like, It’s all good. People can like car movies, comic movies, and romance and floof. I just devoured the MST3K revival this weekend myself, it’s just fun. And that’s what the F&F franchise is. Loud, unapologetic fun and Lord knows we need it nowadays.
Sigh, MST is the epitome of “class” My family loves it!! Long may floof reign!
Third Ginger- I live for this show. I think it came back at just the right time. We all need a little fun in our lives…sometimes through brutally mocking terrible b-movies.
On topic: I think Mike and the guys with Rifftrax did riff the first F&F. I haven’t seen it because they can be hit or miss but when they hit… I’m in tears with laughter.
Yeah~
I like this franchise, ok, probably excluding Tokyo Drift though…
This my go to movie when I just want to watch something fun with nice cars and explosions here and there and laugh at the cheesy plot & acting.
It is better when you had a bad week and you cant vent your frustration out loud tbh.
These are very not-for-me, but I’ve got boys and have seen the most recent couple of these (not in theaters of course) — the movies since the Rock joined the cast — and I gotta admit, these are stupid, entertaining, utterly-redonkulous fun. They make zero sense. Vin Diesel is, by far, the worst part of the entire franchise and yet, somehow, they’re wholly entertaining in an incredibly cheesy way. That they’ve leaned into their own ridiculousness is what I, think, makes them work. There is, I kid you not, a scene in one where the Rock flexes his muscles to break out of a cast. I have not laughed so hard in a long, long time.
Oh and, sadly, I’ve also seen all the Transformers movies. (Cause, again, boys.) Fast and Furious are Oscar winners in comparison. Saw the preview for the most recent Transformers — which I can only assume is subtitled, Oh-No-Not-This-Crap-Again — on our last trip to the theatre and it looks even worse, if that’s cinematically possible, than Transformers Dinosaur Robots, or whatever that last piece of junk was called. (Only redeeming quality of that film was making the others in the series look slightly less terrible in comparison and, oh my god, I can’t believe I’ve seen every Transformers movie. As if world news wasn’t depressing enough …)
My exact words to my husband as our sons, whose excuse for poor taste are being under 10, said, ‘We gotta see that!’ … Oh goodie, hope it’s 3-1/2 hours long and totally terrible like the last one. So, yeah, in comparison, I’ll happily watch this latest Furious movie with my family when it comes out on cable, while I’m gonna try and bribe my husband to avoid having to endure another Transformers.
By the way, what made me first want (?) to see the Fast and Furious films was the How Did This Get Made podcast’s riffs on them. Incredibly funny and worth checking out.
I think this just proves people really need escapism right now.
It’s true. Sales of romance novels are, believe it or not, also a good barometer of public mood. After 9/11, romance novels experienced a huge spike in sales.
This has been your daily Nerdfact. You’re welcome! 😆
This franchise isn’t my thing, but hey, if Beauty and the Beast can have huge box office sales, why the big deal over this one as well? It’s meant to be escapist and dumb and never tried to sell itself otherwise.
Plus it’s proof that people are willing to watch movies with a (racially) diverse cast and crew.
Mindless entertainment and sillyness with mega explosions/ action scenes. Not oscar winning stuff but fun to watch when you’re munching on snacks and having drinks. Harmless fun basically. So enough already with the pompous “our society has crumbled and imbeciles are filling movie seats” talk. Good God, its a movie!
Plus people can like both intellectual works and mindless entertainment.
They can? 😉
Well, I like them. They’re unapologetic, mindless fun. Escapism, like someone above me said. They are entertaining, they know it, they milk it, and I’m fine with it. I watch them like I eat my fries: very rarely, but when I do, I really enjoy it.
So, the franchise’s ending yeah?
Not my jam either but I admit I’m a fan of Charlize and once I saw the trailer I was moved to see it. I haven’t seen any FF since the first one and similarly Gone in 60seconds (car themes)..
During the coming attractions, I saw that Charlize is the lead in Atomic Blonde, which will come out this summer. I will be seeing that film too. I love Charlize.
I watched the first one and actually loved it, Paul mostly of course, but then lost interest until I met my husband and he had them all on DVD, lol. I really enjoy them, as much as I hate to admit it! Everything they do is impossible and ridiculous but still I watch. I can’t wait for this one.
Have never seen any of them, no huge desire to, but I too appreciate the diversity of the casts. I knew that these were popular films based on how many there have been, but damn, biggest worldwide opening of all time?
But I guess there’s a lot more to take into account. It’s mid-April, and the big budget summer blockbuster releases are still a few weeks away, so what else is there to see currently? It’s also a holiday long weekend. Here in Canada anyway, everything is closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, so people have nothing else to do. TFA was released a week before Christmas, during the big holiday movie rush, when there’s a greater variety of movies on offer at the theatres. Plus, people tend to be busier around Christmas than Easter.
So I suppose this doesn’t necessarily mean that FF films are somehow objectively “better” or “more popular” than something like Star Wars, just that this one was released at a convenient time.
Yeah, count me in as one of those imbeciles filling the movie seat. It’s harmless fun, and not trying to cure cancer or solve all the worlds problems. Plus my girls like watching girls who are not like Cinderella. (That’s my 13 year olds explanation.) They saw a few of the movies when they were on TNT, so it cut out the really bad stuff, but my youngest thought that girls who could fix cars were pretty cool. I had to agree.
+1
With the exception of the first one, I do think most of the films are terrible…but they are kind of stupid fun if you’re not looking for anything serious? One of the blogs I follow did point out that they’re one of the few major franchises headlined by a highly ethnically diverse cast, so that is very likely where some of the success and appeal stems.
As a 32 year old mother of two, these movies are my obsession. My son, Dom, derives his name from the Dom in these movies and he is just as into them as I am. The unconventional family theme is what drew me in and, after so many years of watching their stories unfold, I genuinely love each character and I look forward to each new chapter.
I saw it and have seen all with my now 16 y/o. I love the cinema and will see whatever I am in the mood to see. It was more funny and kind of camp than the others. I love horror, drama and some comedy and luckily a cinema 5 minutes from me that is £5.99 a bargain. It’s not for everyone I suppose and actually would rather see that vs seeing Jackie again.
I went to watch it and… I. LOVED. IT. I really did. It was the perfect escapism. Been waiting for it for awhile and it was all that and more. Granted, the back and forth dialogue isnt always that strong but honestly, im usually there for the car stunts and for The Rock and Diesel. Went to watch it yesterday, Sunday. I loved it.
I enjoy these movies a lot. They are fun. And they’ve put money in my pockets by using my office for filming.
I ship Letty and Dom, but that’s the only reason I watch them. Still, it should have ended after the last one. It was the perfect send off to Paul and the series. But…money talks of course…
Not my thing but clearly there is an audience, and one willing to shell out bucks to see it in the theater. I think the diverse cast also helps sell it around the world, something I wish more studios would try.
Action and sci-fi films aren’t my preferred genres. However, I don’t mind the Furious franchise movies for the reasons Kaiser mentioned. Actually. “The Fate of the Furious” is the first film in that franchise I went to see at the theater. Charlize Theron is why I went to see it. These films are over-the-top ridiculous and not intellectual, but occasionally, I don’t mind mindless entertainment.
I don’t get the love for romcoms, superhero movies, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the Star Wars franchise, but I don’t judge people who love those movies. To each her own.
It is very surprising, but then again not really as there were no other big franchise movies opening last weekend , it virtually had no competition on a holiday weekend and 80% of the money came from overseas markets because the movie opened in foreign countries on the same day. It’s more clever marketing strategy than anything. It all just came together as a perfect storm for the Movie.
I have watched a few. I am over 40, educated and a woman and I love any kind of action flick. (Hell, I sat through the new Mad Max this weekend and while no high level intelligence movie, it sure was cool to watch. So. Many. Explosions! Fiery Guitar! Coolest Rat Rods Ever!)
The first movie caught me with the 1970 Dodge Charger (actually a 1969 with window dressing to make it look like the 70). Then there was the Acura NSX, the 67 Mustang, the Ford GT40 (one of the rarest sports cars in the world with only 105 built in the 5 years they were produced) and a fun car that I see daily, the Eclipse.
As you may have guessed I am a car person. This is why I wanted to watch the first movie and this is why I watched more. I sat through Tokyo Drift for the freaking Mustang. My mom just took my son to see this one yesterday and while he is the target audience (15 and male), it was my mom who loved it. Explosions, the Rock, awesome cars. Not all of us want to go and have a Shindler’s List experience at the movies. Some of us like to go, eat popcorn and just enjoy some fun for a couple of hours. You get dragged to one of the F&F movies, take a pen, jot down what the cars are and go learn something about them. There is knowledge to be had there too (the amount of work that goes into turning those import cars into little race rockets is amazing). Have fun, enjoy some good looking people and some kick ass cars.
I stopped watching after the 4th or 5th but not because i didnt enjoy them but because i suck at watching movies and i need to catch up.
I love a good distraction and action movies and yes – sue me – i LOVE the transformers movies too.
I also loved the step up movies just for the entertainment – never for the acting which was always terrible.😂😂
However I hate those silly melissa mcCarthy movies like the one she did with sandy B, i mean i dislike comedy that is too silly. But i have no issue seeing that other people enjoy it!
So, to each their own.