Not simply enough to win the weekend, the dominant “Furious 7” weekend box office tally represents the greatest ever for an April release.
According to studio estimates, “Furious 7” earned a healthy $143.6 million from the cinemas this weekend. That bests the $95.0 million earned by 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” to establish a new record for an April opening weekend.
It also comfortably tops initial expectations. Going into the weekend, analysts were eyeing a total in the $110-$130 million range.
It does, however, fall short of the $150 million analysts came to expect once the film posted a hefty $67.3 million on Friday (its subsequent daily totals of $46.3 million and $30.0 million were slightly less than anticipated). As a result, it does not set a new pre-summer box office record.
“The Hunger Games,” which earned $152.5 million in March 2012, still holds that mark.
Still, a $143.6 million opening weekend in the US (and a $384 million global total) is absolutely nothing at which to sneeze.
“Home,” the weekend’s next best performer, earned $27.4 million. “Get Hard” followed in third with $12.9 million, while “Cinderella” (#4, $10.3 million) and “Insurgent” (#5, $10.0 million) closed out the top five. The latter crossed the $100 million mark this week (to reach a cumulative gross of $103.4 million).
New release “Woman in Gold,” which opened on 258 screens, grabbed the #7 slot with $2.0 million in receipts.
