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Box office hits and misses: ‘Fate of the Furious’ passes $900 million globally

'The Fate of the Furious' review
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This weekend’s list of the highest-grossing movies looked a lot like last week’s list, with The Fate of the Furious continuing to race ahead of every other movie in theaters.

Universal Pictures’ blockbuster sequel is on pace to fall short of its predecessor, Furious 7, in U.S. theaters, but it’s making up for its so-so domestic performance with a massive showing internationally. The film crossed the $900 million mark worldwide over the weekend, and will certainly move past $1 billion over the next few days.

For the sake of reference, current franchise record-holder Furious 7 earned $353 million domestically over the course of its 11-week run, and left theaters with $1.5 billion worldwide. The Fate of the Furious has yet to open in Japan, and is already the second highest-grossing U.S. movie of all time in China (the world’s second-largest market) after Furious 7, which it’s likely to pass in the near future.

# Title Weekend U.S. Total Worldwide Total
1. The Fate of the Furious $38.6M $163.5M $908.3M
2. The Boss Baby $12.7M $136.9M $358.1M
3. Beauty and the Beast $9.9M $471M $1.1B
4. Born in China $5.1M $5.1M $14.6M
5. Going in Style $5M $31.7M $50.8M
6. Smurfs: The Lost Village $4.8M $33.3M $133.6M
7. Unforgettable $4.8M $4.8M $6.5M
8. Gifted $4.5M $10.7M $10.7M
9. The Promise $4M $4M $4M
10. The Lost City of Z $2.1M $2.3M $2.3M

As for the rest of the weekend’s movies, the second- and third-place films remained the same from last week, with the animated feature The Boss Baby continuing its surprisingly successful run by adding another $12.7 million in U.S. theaters, and Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast bringing its massive worldwide run up to $1.1 billion.

The story wasn’t nearly as positive for most of the week’s new releases.

Disney Nature’s animal documentary Born in China enjoyed the highest-grossing premiere with $5.1 million domestically, giving it the best debut of any of Disney’s documentaries since 2012’s Chimpanzee. On the flip side, the romantic thriller Unforgettable and the historical drama The Promise both underperformed expectations with $4.8 million and $4 million, respectively.

This upcoming week will likely extend the winning streak for The Fate of the Furious, which doesn’t face too much competition from new releases. The biggest movie premiering in theaters is director James Ponsoldt’s The Circle, which casts Tom Hanks and Emma Watson in an adaptation of Dave Eggers’ 2013 novel of the same name that explores the nature of privacy and freedom in the internet age. Also hitting theaters this week is the supernatural thriller Voice from the Stone with Emilia Clarke, and the crime drama Sleight, which follows a talented street magician who must use his abilities to rescue his sister from a ruthless drug dealer.

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
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