Furious 8 attracted a domestic audience that skewed heavily male (58% versus just 51% for Furious 7), while showing demographic balance (50% under 25), and demonstrating once again that the film’s diverse cast appeals to a wide range of cultural groups with opening weekend crowds that were 41% Caucasian, 26% Hispanic, 19% African-American, and 11% Asian. The fact that they gave Furious 8 an “A” CinemaScore bodes well for the next few weekends, though matching Furious 7’s domestic total of $353 million appears to be out of reach.
Overseas it could be a different story. Furious 8 opened at number one in all 60 territories, and set new box office records in 17 including China, where its $190 million debut accounted for over 90% of the money spent at the Middle Kingdom box office this past weekend. Furious 8’s $432.2 million overseas debut obliterated the previous record set by Jurassic World ($316.7 million), and its final global weekend tally (estimated at $532.5 million) will likely eclipse Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ $529 million record total (of course The Force Awakens didn’t have the advantage of a simultaneous China opening).
Yet, even in China Furious 8 may have trouble keeping up with its franchise predecessor, which earned $390 million, the most ever for a Hollywood film in the Middle Kingdom—and that’s because the recent box office trend in China is towards a more front-loaded mode in which films open big and fade fast. Given the popularity of the Fast & Furious franchise in China, such a fate might not await Furious 8, but it is worth tracking over the coming weeks.
Furious 8’s big opening didn’t quite suck all the oxygen out of the room. Dreamworks Animation’s Boss Baby slipped just 41.1% as it earned $15.5 million in its third frame as it drove its domestic total to $116.3 million, while Disney’s megahit Beauty & the Beast eased down 42.4% as it brought in $13.6 million to bring its 2017-leading domestic total to a mammoth $454.6 million.
|
Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): April 14-16, 2017 |
||||||
|
Film |
Weekend Gross |
Screens |
Avg./Screen |
Total Gross |
Wk# |
|
|
1 |
The Fate of the Furious |
$100,181,640 |
4,310 |
$23,244 |
$100,181,640 |
1 |
|
2 |
The Boss Baby |
$15,540,000 |
3,743 |
$4,152 |
$116,323,907 |
3 |
|
3 |
Beauty and the Beast |
$13,634,000 |
3,592 |
$3,796 |
$454,649,751 |
5 |
|
4 |
Smurfs: The Lost Village |
$6,500,000 |
3,610 |
$1,801 |
$24,728,326 |
2 |
|
5 |
Going in Style |
$6,350,000 |
3,076 |
$2,064 |
$23,376,352 |
2 |
|
6 |
Gifted |
$3,000,000 |
1,146 |
$2,618 |
$4,369,910 |
2 |
|
7 |
Get Out |
$2,917,865 |
1,424 |
$2,049 |
$167,547,880 |
8 |
|
8 |
Power Rangers |
$2,850,000 |
2,171 |
$1,313 |
$80,563,748 |
4 |
|
9 |
The Case for Christ |
$2,720,000 |
1,386 |
$1,962 |
$8,447,704 |
2 |
|
10 |
Kong: Skull Island |
$2,670,000 |
2,018 |
$1,323 |
$161,246,181 |
6 |
Far less successful is Sony’s Smurfs: The Lost Village, which slipped 51% from its disastrous debut, earning just $6.5 million to bring its disappointing domestic total to $24.7 million, which is just a touch better than the $23.4 million earned so far by the geezer heist comedy remake Going In Style, which dropped just 46.8% in its second weekend as it brought it $6.4 million.
Sixth place went to Gifted, a family drama about a custody battle over a youthful mathematical genius written by Tom Flynn (no relation) and directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) that expanded to 1.146 theaters and earned a modest $3 million.
Once again Jordan Peele’s socially conscious horror film Get Out posted the lowest drop in the top ten, just 28.1% in its eighth weekend in theaters during which it earned $2.9 million to bring its domestic total to $167.5 million, which is more than Kong: Skull Island has earned here in North America, and very likely the top total for a horror film in 2017.
Kong: Skull Island and Fox’s final Hugh Jackman Wolverine film Logan are almost done with their long, and in the case of Logan, very successful domestic runs. Logan, which was produced just $97 million, has now earned $221.6 million here in North America and nearly $600 million worldwide.
In limited release Amazon’s old school adventure film The Lost City of Z earned $112,633 from just four theaters.
In another limited opening, American comic book artist Dash (Bottomless Belly Button) Shaw’s My Entire High School Is Sinking Into the Sea opened in 3 theaters and earned $15, 215.
Be sure to check back here next week to see if Warner Bros.’ crazy ex-wife thriller Unforgettable, Open Road’s Armenian genocide epic The Promise, the U.K. action comedy Free Fire, the sci-fi horror film Phoenix Forgotten, or Disney’s Panda-pandering nature film Born in China can make much of an impression on a box office that is still expected to be dominated by The Fate of the Furious.
