“Furious 7″ shot past the $800 million mark globally after less than two weeks in theaters. Its performance essentially insures that it will become the first film in the “Fast and Furious” franchise and the first Universal Pictures release in history to top $1 billion.
“Furious 7″ easily topped foreign box office charts, picking up $195 million from 22,000 locations across 66 territories. Its international total stands at $548 million through Sunday. Domestically, “Furious 7″ earned $60.6 million, besting all comers, and bringing its Stateside total to $252.5 million.
Fans of the series have flocked to theaters to see how the film would handle the death of Paul Walker, who was killed in a 2013 car crash before shootings was completed.
“That’s the emotional current running through the movie, and it’s what’s helping it hold up and play better than any of the other films in the franchise,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
The film’s boffo results propelled the franchise past the $3 billion at the worldwide box office. The “Fast and Furious” series has now generated $3.18 billion through the weekend. The seventh installment now ranks as the highest-grossing one, passing “Fast 6’s” $789 million total to establish a new high-water mark.
