Furious 7 Burns Tracks into Record Books
April 8, 2015
Hammad Zaidi
Today we’re examining Furious 7, the single largest opening weekend release in the history of Universal Studios. Ever since Universal opened their doors at Universal Film Manufacturing Company on April 30, 1912, no other motion picture has earned more at the box office for them than Furious 7. In order to put this into perspective, please consider Universal’s history. Jaws (1975), E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982) and Jurassic Park (1993) all wore the crown of being the single largest initial release in the history of cinema. So, having the seventh edition of franchise become the studio’s largest release ever is nothing short of incredible, and we should pay homage to the incredible. Thus, without further ado, here’s how Furious 7 burned tire marks into the history books.
The Domestic Numbers
Furious 7 raced its way to earning $147,187,040 on 4,004 screens during its opening weekend, which is a $36,760 per screen average. Furthermore, the picture earned an additional $14,015,315 on Monday, April 6, giving it a four-day cumulative total of $161,202,690.
Once we look deeper into the April 3-5 opening weekend, we see Furious 7 earned $67,407,340 on Friday, $46,626,580 on Saturday (a -30.8% decrease from Friday), $33,153,120 on Sunday (a -28.9% decrease from Saturday), and $14,015,315 on Monday (a -57.7% decrease from Sunday). While these daily decreases are expected, they may signal that those who want to see Furious 7 will do so early on in its release. However, that can’t be determined until after the second week of release, when we see how much the box office decreased from week one to week two.
The International Numbers
The only thing more amazing that Furious 7’s domestic release is its international cash grab. The picture earned $245,052,121 internationally over its opening weekend, giving the film a $392, 239,161 three-day total and $406,254,511 four-day total. Furthermore, the film’s international box office accounts for 60.3% of its worldwide box office so far.
Other Interesting facts about Opening Weekend
Domestic
The moviegoer gender split was nearly even, 51% men, 49% women, with 56% of the audience being over the age of 25. Furthermore, according the Universal Studios exit polls, 37% of the domestic opening weekend audience was Hispanic.
International
The $245 million plus earned so far is without being released in China or Japan. Thus, once Furious 7 enjoys its full worldwide release, the film should cross the $1 billion mark.
Okay friends, thanks for reading Going Bionic #261. As always, I thank you for lending me your eyes, and I look forward to borrowing them next week. I can be followed on Twitter @Lonelyseal.