Michelle Rodriguez may have a billion reasons to celebrate soon…
Furious 7, starring the 36-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican-American actress, shot past the $800 million mark globally after less than two weeks in theaters.
The film’s performance essentially insures it will become the first film in the Fast and Furious franchise and the first Universal Pictures release in history to top $1 billion.
Furious 7 easily topped foreign box office charts over the weekend, picking up $195 million from 22,000 locations across 66 territories. Its international total stands at $548 million through Sunday. Domestically, Furious 7 earned $60.6 million, besting all comers, and bringing its U.S. total to $252.5 million.
Fans of the series have flocked to theaters to see how the film would handle the death of Paul Walker, who was killed in a 2013 car crash before shooting on the film was completed.
“That’s the emotional current running through the movie, and it’s what’s helping it hold up and play better than any of the other films in the franchise,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
The film’s boffo results propelled the franchise past the $3 billion at the worldwide box office. The Fast and Furious series has now generated $3.18 billion through the weekend. The seventh installment now ranks as the highest-grossing one, passing Fast 6’s $789 million total to establish a new high-water mark.
Furious 7 got a big boost from its debut in China, where it opened in first place on Sunday and grossed an estimated $68.6 million. That is the highest-grossing one-day result ever for the People’s Republic.
In Russia, Furious 7 also debuted in first place, picking up $15 million. It also debuted to $1.9 million in Poland. Furious 7 has one major market left to open, Japan on April 17.