The newest film in the Fast and the Furious franchise is a global hit. According to Forbes, Furious 8, the latest offering from the billion-dollar series, opened with a whopping $100 million in the United States and $432 million abroad, making it the highest grossing opening weekend–based on domestic and international box office takes–EVER.
The massive global opening for Fate of the Furious was thanks in large part to its showing in China where it brought in a record $195 million over the weekend. Forbes reports the film also broke records in 17 other countries, including Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Lebanon, Malaysia, Middle East, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, U.A.E., Venezuela and Vietnam.
THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS debuted this wknd with est. ¥1.346B/¥1.264B ($195.5M/$183.7M) incl/wo ticketing fees pic.twitter.com/Zp28IX9K5u
— China Box Office (@ChinaBoxOffice) April 16, 2017
The movie’s strong global showing is further proof that films with diverse casts can be profitable overseas. For far too long, Black films were said to be difficult to sell to international audiences, but projects like Get Out, Hidden Figures, and the Fast/Furious franchise has proven this to be untrue. Fate of the Furious has one of the most inclusive group of actors in such a high-profile project and stars Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Tyrese Gibson and Michelle Rodriguez.
In addition to it’s gigantic global opening weekend, Furious 8 director F. Gary Gray scored the biggest debut for an African-American director. With his historic showing, Gray moves past Tim Story whose Guardians of the Galaxy film premiered with $330. This is Gray’s second box office darling in a row; his last film, Straight Outta Compton, grossed over $200 million worldwide.
Check out the trailer for Furious 8 below and read out chat with F. Gary Gray, here.
