A little under nine years ago most of Hollywood thought Universal Studios' “Fast and Furious” franchise was dead in the water. The third installment in the series, “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” had earned just $62.5 million domestically. How times have changed. Today, after a second weekend haul of $60.5 million, “Furious 7” has made $252.5 million in just 10 days. More impressive, it's grossed $800 million globally and is on track to cross $1 billion. Frankly, even based on the success of the last few “Furious” films it's an astonishing achievement for all involved. Moreover, “Furious 7” may hold on to the no. 1 spot at the box office for the next two weekends until “Avengers: Age of Ultron” opens on May 1.
As for the rest of this weekend's box office results, DreamWorks Animation's “Home” continued to withstand the “Furious” storm dropping just 29% for another $19 million and $129.5 million. It's taken in $242.2 million worldwide so far.
Debuting in the third spot was 20th Century Fox's “The Longest Ride” with $13.5 million. It's the second lowest opening for a Nicholas Sparks creation since “Nights in Rodanthe” in 2006. Relativity's “The Best of Me” opened to just $10 million last October.
“Get Hard” dropped to fourth place with another $8.6 million and $71.2 million to date. An eventual tally over $90 million is likely at this point.
“Cinderella” rounded out the top five conjuring up $7.2 million for a magical $180 million to date. Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of the classic fairy tale has now earned $436.7 million globally.
Two films had impressive debuts in limited release. A24's “Ex Machina” earned $250,000 in four theaters or $62,500 per screen for one of the highest per screens of the year so far. IFC's “Clouds of Sils Maria,” which opened across most of the world last year, took in $70,000 on three screens for a $23,333 per screen.
New films opening on Friday include “Unfriended,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” and “Monkey Kingdom.”
Final weekend actuals are released on Monday.