‘Furios 7’ blasts to $1 billion worldwide mark as audiences flock to theaters around the globe

‘Furios 7’ blasts to $1 billion worldwide mark as audiences flock to theaters around the globe

Furious 7 has enjoyed strong reviews, good word-of-mouth, and support for star Paul Martin, who died during filming.

There’s no denying that Fast & Furious 7 is a mega-blockbuster now: the reigning box office champion has scored a third big weekend at $29.1 million, pushing it past $1 billion in the worldwide box office.

The action-packed film has pulled in a huge total of $294 million domestically, beating the $202.8 million from Fast & Furious 6 in 2013, according to an Associated Press report.

One analyst who was quoted in the report said that the film has benefited from strong reviews, “spectacular” word-of-mouth, and a lot of support for the late star of the film, Paul Walker, who was killed in a car crash before the end of filming.

“Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” opened to a close second behind Furious 7, pulling in $24 million. The comedy couldn’t top the original’s score of $31.8 million in 2009, but it only cost $30 million to produce and is thus seen as a success by Sony.

Coming in third place is the social media thriller “Unfriended,” a low-budget film that raked in $16 million — a tidy profit over its $1 million production budget.

It is the 11th microbudget film by Blumhouse to open to at least $15 million. It also created the films “The Purge” and “Ouija.”

“Home” and “The Longest Ride” were the other films in the top five, and they pulled in $10.3 million and $6.9 million, respectively.

The franchise kicked off all the way back in 2001 with the release of the original hit, “The Fast and the Furious,” starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and Michelle Rodriguez. Since then, it has spawned six sequels, two short films, and even a video game series, earning $3.1 billion worldwide at the box office as of this month, the biggest franchise of all time for Universal.

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