Fast & Furious Breaks all time April box office record

[Entertainment72]

"LOS ANGELES – "Fast & Furious" left the competition in the dust with a $72.5 million opening weekend, the best so far this year.
That topped last weekend's $59.3 million debut for DreamWorks Animation's "Monsters vs. Aliens," which slipped to second place with $33.5 million, raising its 10-day total to $105.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Universal's "Fast & Furious" also raced to a record for April debuts, easily passing the previous best of $42.2 million set in 2003 by "Anger Management."
It was a blockbuster opening more customary to summer. But Hollywood has been extending its busy season more and more by placing summer-style flicks earlier in the year.
"It's summer time in April," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers. "We've seen the summer season stretch from what used to be Memorial Day through Labor Day, then the first of May through Labor Day. Now maybe with `Fast & Furious,' it's going to be early April as the beginning of summer."
The weekend's other new wide release, Miramax's 1980s nostalgia comedy "Adventureland," debuted at No. 6 with $6 million. The movie stars Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart as summer workers at a second-rate theme park in the late '80s.
The fourth installment of the "Fast and the Furious" street-racing franchise brings back the four stars of the 2001 original — Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster. The new movie has Diesel's fugitive driver and Walker's undercover cop reteaming for more illegal races as they take on a murderous drug lord.
The reunion paid off for distributor Universal, which also pulled in $30.1 million in 32 other countries where "Fast & Furious" was playing.
The original was a surprise hit, but the franchise was slowly running out of gas after the sequel "2 Fast 2 Furious," which starred Walker. Part three, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," had a new cast and took in a solid but unremarkable $62.5 million over its entire run.
But "Tokyo Drift" ended with a cameo by Diesel, sparking interest in reviving the series with the "Fast & Furious" reunion.
"The marketing campaign let everyone know it's not what you've seen before. It's the original cast," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. "For the audience, the first main reason to see the movie was the action, then the car racing, then Vin Diesel."
"Fast & Furious" paced Hollywood to another huge weekend, with overall revenues at $160 million, up 68 percent from the same period last year.
For the year, domestic revenues are running at a record pace of $2.57 billion, up 14.5 percent from 2008's, according to Media By Numbers. Factoring in 2009's higher ticket prices, movie attendance is running 12.8 percent ahead of last year's.
"The title of this movie perfectly describes the box office year of 2009. Fast and furious," Dergarabedian said.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Fast & Furious," $72.5 million.
2. "Monsters vs. Aliens," $33.5 million.
3. "The Haunting in Connecticut," $9.6 million.
4. "Knowing," $8.1 million.
5. "I Love You, Man," $7.9 million.
6. "Adventureland," $6 million.
7. "Duplicity," $4.3 million.
8. "Race to Witch Mountain," $3.4 million.
9. "12 Rounds," $2.3 million.
10. "Sunshine Cleaning," $1.9 million."

[Suntory_Times]

Umm, everything is posted twice. I thought this film was only going to make between $35 and $45 million opening weekend and collaps very quickly. I'm still expecting it to collapse but am still suprised by its opening. I guess this means ww'll have a fast and furious 5 (tokyo drift is when I stopped liking or caring about the series, whilst the first two where descent action flicks the thirds just screamed low budget to me). I'l probably rent this one on blu in a few months.

[fatediesel]

It's not surprising it broke the April record because big movies have never come out in April, but it is surprising just how huge this movie was. I'm also surprised because there was some good sports on TV (Final Four, opening baseball game) and those have the same target demographic as Fast and Furious. It's nice to see these blockbuster movies coming out in April and not just summer.

[xtop]

Originally Posted by Suntory_Times

Umm, everything is posted twice. I thought this film was only going to make between $35 and $45 million opening weekend and collaps very quickly. I'm still expecting it to collapse but am still suprised by its opening. I guess this means ww'll have a fast and furious 5 (tokyo drift is when I stopped liking or caring about the series, whilst the first two where descent action flicks the thirds just screamed low budget to me). I'l probably rent this one on blu in a few months.

i expected 50, 70+ was a surprise for sure. but since you liked the first 2, go see this one.

[thedarkangel1975]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

It's not surprising it broke the April record because big movies have never come out in April, but it is surprising just how huge this movie was. I'm also surprised because there was some good sports on TV (Final Four, opening baseball game) and those have the same target demographic as Fast and Furious. It's nice to see these blockbuster movies coming out in April and not just summer.

I am not surprised at all that they put spots during the final four. Most people that watch the final four are into Fast and Furious.

[sfmarine]

It was impressive but every teenager in the country probably saw this movie lol. Not to mention fans of the first one.

[anomynous]

Eh, not sure if this is a good or bad thing yet

[Clark Kent]

I have no idea how this movie did so well. The only thing I can think of is that many teenagers that saw the earlier movies on television wanted to see it.

[thedarkangel1975]

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker's hand might be hurting after this. They need to start writing Thank You notes to every Male and Female in the 14 to 25 age group for resurrecting and saving their careers.

[PH3AR]

Im glad for this movie, never thought it would get the attention it did!