Fast & Furious was guaranteed to outperform the franchise’s previous sequels with the original’s principle cast of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez returning to re-juice the series. No one expected just how much power the old parts in a new model could muster.
In a box office surprise of epic proportions during a flailing economy, Fast & Furious hit the nitro jackpot this weekend and earned an estimated $72.5 million for Universal’s largest-ever opening and the industry’s largest April opening ever. Toss in an additional $30.1 million from overseas ticket sales and the fourth F&F franchise has cleared $100 million already.
Aside from Fast & Furious taking the top spot and the addition of Adventureland, the rest of this weekend’s box office is almost identical to last weekend with everything pushed down a slot. Watchmen and Taken are now officially out of the top 10 and Monsters vs Aliens has crossed $100 million.
The complete estimated weekend box office results for April 3-5 is as follows.
- 1. Fast & Furious: $72.508m
- 2. Monsters vs Aliens: $33.51m
- 3. The Haunting in Connecticut: $9.55m
- 4. Knowing: $8.13m
- 5. I Love You, Man: $7.85m
- 6. Adventureland: $6.01m
- 7. Duplicity: $4.3m
- 8. Race to Witch Mountain: $3.351m
- 9. 12 Rounds: $2.3m
- 10. Sunshine Cleaning: $1.879m
Next weekend will see three newcomers battle for the top spot. Kids and tweens will be drawn to Hannah Montana: The Movie and Dragonball Evolution, while adults will gravitate towards the Seth Rogen comedy Observe and Report.
Be sure to guess next weekend’s box office numbers in our HDR Forums Box Office thread.
