Fate of the Furious breaks another record in China

The Fate of the Furious, the eighth film in Universal Pictures' multi-billion-dollar Fast and the Furious franchise, set another opening-weekend record in China, earning $190 million over the three-day period with the biggest global opening of all time.

The movie - known as Fast & Furious 8 outside of the US - earned an estimated $432 million overseas, breaking the $316.7 million record previously set by 2015's Jurassic World. It faltered slightly at the US box office, taking in roughly $100 million, which is about 30 percent less than what Furious 7 tallied for its opening weekend in 2015.

"Every culture, every nation, embraced the film," Duncan Clark, president of international distribution for Universal, told The Wall Street Journal. "There's not a single place where they didn't like it."

In China, Fate of the Furious earned $9.1 million in midnight previews and saw record totals for ticket pre-sales. The movie accounted for 75 percent of all show times and 90 percent of the Chinese box office total between April 14 and Sunday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It is being distributed in China by China Film Group Corporation.

Despite being a 16-year-old franchise in the US, the Fast and the Furious franchise is still relatively new to China. The sixth movie was the first to be screened in China, and grossed only $66 million.

The franchise's earning power quickly changed after Furious 7 opened to $64 million in China and went on to make $390 million, making it the highest-grossing film in 2015 and the largest-ever Hollywood showing in China.

"It is a franchise that has adapted and changed over the years and is as relevant in 2017 as it was in 2001," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for comScore, to The Associated Press. "The Furious franchise perfectly represents what that global audience is all about. They're poised perfectly for installments 9 and 10 to do very well. It's still firing on all cylinders."

The franchise has one of the most diverse casts in a Hollywood blockbuster, starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and Jason Statham. The eighth movie also added Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron to the story about a group of race-car-driving criminals.

Fate of the Furious won't have much Hollywood competition in China until Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is released on May 5. The first Guardians film, released in 2014, made $96 million in China.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 04/18/2017 page2)