The Fast/Furious franchise is Universal’s biggest cash cow, the kind of quarterly meeting bullet point that soothes panicky investors. When Paul Walker died, most people figured they’d have two choices: continue without him, or try to bet it all on one last big score. Corporations being corporations, they opted for option C, all of the above. Universal exec Donna Langley told Hollywood Reporter she thinks there’s “at least three more” Furious sequels.
In the interim, PAUL WALKER’S LAST STAND is still one hell of a marketing hook, and pre-release forecasts have Furious 7 opening at $100 million or higher. That would make it the Fastest Furious ever, topping 6 Fast 6 Furious‘s $97 million opening in 2003.
…it’s the groundswell of love for the late Paul Walker that is driving pre-release projections of a record-breaking $100 million opening on the April 3 weekend.
Other predictions have it as high as $115 million.
With more than 52 million “likes” on Facebook , “Furious 7” is generating more online heat than “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” and this year’s upcoming “Star Wars: Episode VII” and James Bond movies.
“I think it could go even higher than that, and that’s because of the X factor that Walker’s fans provide” said Rentrak’s Paul Dergarabedian. [TheWrap]
I don’t know if I’d call it an “X factor,” I like to think of it more as a NOS boost. Also, I think this “three more movies” business is hopelessly pessimistic. As we all know, Furious 7‘s incredible tagline is “This time, it’s not just about being fast.”
That seems to suggest that the first six movies were about being fast. There’s no reason to think there couldn’t be another six movies about being furious. It’s all about balance.
The question is, how much more furious can it get?? They’re already crashing so hard they’re destroying the fabric of space time!
EVERYTHING SHATTERS! BECAUSE OF THE FURIOUSITY! THIS FILM WILL PRODUCE A SHOCKWAVE OF FURIOUSITY LIKE NOTHING THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN! NOTHING IN ITS PATH WILL SURVIVE! TWO VROOM CARS ENTER! NO VROOM CARS LEAVE! BE FURIOUS OR BE DEAD! OOOOOOH WAH-AH AH AH!