‘Fast & Furious’ shatters records with $72.5 mil weekend
In the first truly shocking box office result of the year, Fast & Furious sped away from expectations to gross a humongous $72.5 mil, according to early estimates from Media by Numbers. That result is effectively double what most industry observers had predicted for the debut of the fourth feature in Vin Diesel’s car franchise, and it left in the dust a number of notable records:
* Best April opening ever, beating Anger Management’s $42.2 mil
* Best Universal Pictures opening ever (three-day), beating The Lost World: Jurassic Park’s $72.1 mil
* Best F&F franchise opening ever, beating 2 Fast 2 Furious’ $50.5 mil
* Best opening yet in 2009, easily beating the bows of the more-buzzed-about Monsters vs. Aliens ($59.3 mil) and Watchmen ($55.2 mil)
* Best opening ever for stars Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster, as well as for director Justin Lin
