Everyone knew that FURIOUS 7 (MRC/Universal) was going to have an enormous weekend, but the franchise is toppling even the most optimistic forecasts. According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, opening day (which includes $15.8M from Thursday night shows) could reach $68M, an amazing 75% increase over the first day of Fast & Furious 6, which earned $38.7M just 2 years ago. That rate isn’t likely to be sustained all weekend, especially since Easter Sunday is traditionally a rather weak day for moviegoing (except for religious-themed titles), but a $145M weekend is probable, and $150M wouldn’t be a surprise. That would give Furious 7 the 9th biggest opening in US history, and internationally the blockbuster already had $60M just from partial openings on Wednesday and Thursday. Despite a production/marketing budget of $325M+, the profit here will be too high even for studio accountants to hide, with the new movie on a pace to easily beat Fast & Furious 6‘s $788.7M worldwide total (70% of which came from outside the US), and possibly getting close to a 10-figure result.
There were no other wide openings this weekend, since no studio wanted to run into the Furious 7 buzzsaw. Last week’s #1 movie HOME (DreamWorks Animation/20th), appealing to a different audience, held extremely well, down just 25% from last Friday to $11.7M, with a $35M weekend ahead that would put it over $100M in the US.
GET HARD (RatPack Dune/Warners), however, was aimed at exactly the same young male audience as Furious 7, and that didn’t made for much sticking power at the box office. Friday’s take was $4.7M, down 64% from last week’s opening day, and with a low Sunday ahead, it may only find $13M for the weekend, bringing it to $57M. It’s still on pace for $75M+ in the US, which is a fair result for a moderately-budgeted comedy, but it would be far from the top echelon of Will Ferrell or Kevin Hart’s hits.
Both INSURGENT (Summit/Lionsgate) and CINDERELLA (Disney) were headed for $4M on Friday and $10M weekends, but that result had different meanings for the pair. Insurgent was down 42% from last Friday, which is better than Divergent‘s 49% drop on its 3rd Friday, but still puts Divergent on a path to a $130M US total. Cinderella, though, barely budged, down less than 20% from last Friday and with a $200M US total in its grasp.
At some point, will the media acknowledge that IT FOLLOWS (Radius/Weinstein) isn’t really a “cult phenomenon,” as the studio is insisting? Widening again by 35% to 1655 theatres, It Follows fell like an ordinary horror movie, down 35% from last Friday’s total, and heading for a mediocre $2M weekend. It’s unlikely even to reach a $20M total.
WOMAN IN GOLD (Weinstein) counterprogrammed Furious 7 by going after older audiences with a limited opening in 258 theatres, which could give it a fair $2M weekend.
DO YOU BELIEVE? (Pure Flix) had an unexceptional Friday, down about 20% to $560K, but it could jump on Sunday as the only Christian-themed film in the market.
About the Author
