Skip to main content

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

'The Fate of the Furious' review
Image used with permission by copyright holder
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…
Deadpool & Wolverine: Everything we know about the film formerly known as Deadpool 3
Deadpool and Wolverine stand together in Deadpool & Wolverine.

In retrospect, we should have suspected that Deadpool & Wolverine wouldn't keep its most famous co-star out of the title. In 2022, Ryan Reynolds coaxed Hugh Jackman into reprising his role as Wolverine for the first time since 2017's Logan. Once that happened, the name Deadpool 3 didn't fully convey how monumental this film would be.

So Marvel Studios has officially retitled it as Deadpool & Wolverine. Jackman has also humorously rebranded the film as Wolverine & [expletive], which would make this R-rated flick a lot harder to market!

Read more
5 years ago, Game of Thrones aired its last great episode. Here’s why it still holds up
Jamie knights Brienne in episode 2 of Game of Thrones season 8.

Many fans would likely agree that Game of Thrones went out not with a bang, but a profound whimper. After dominating pop culture for nearly 10 years, the hit HBO series concluded with a trio of episodes that were universally reviled by both fans and critics alike. The show's lackluster, ham-fisted finale led to its popularity seemingly vanishing into thin air. In the five years since it aired, time hasn't been kind to Game of Thrones season 8.

To this day, many people still discuss the series' final season with a mix of bitterness and disbelief, and those fans won't find any disagreement about the quality of Game of Thrones' last few chapters here. As disappointing as its eighth season remains, though, April 21 marked the five-year anniversary of its noteworthy second episode, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The fan-favorite installment ranks not only as its season's best chapter, but also as the last great episode that Game of Thrones ever produced.

Read more
Everything coming to Netflix in May 2024
Two men look at each other in Bodkin.

Unfrosted | Official Trailer | Netflix

It's sad to see April end. Not only was the weather nice, but Netflix was killing it with a lot of its original programming like the thriller series Ripley with Andrew Scott, the true-life story Scoop, and the cathartic drama Baby Reindeer, which became a surprise hit late in the month.

Read more