The Fate of the Furious is speeding toward a huge opening weekend at the international box office. How big, exactly? Try $440 million, which would comfortably place F. Gary Gray’s blockbuster ahead of its predecessor, Furious 7, which stormed to a franchise-best opening of $397.7 million two years ago.
Deadline has the financial breakdown, noting that The Fate of the Furious is projected to land somewhere between $375 million and $440 million over the Easter weekend. Adding fuel to the fire, Universal has ensured that the film opens across a number of crucial markets simultaneously on Friday, April 14th – including China, where F8 has reportedly smashed the country’s all-time ticket presales record. THR reports that as of Tuesday, The Fate of the Furious has amassed around $18.1 million (RMB 125 million) in advanced ticketing revenue, enough to leave the previous record-holder Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back in the dust.
Much like the more recent installments in Universal’s petrolhead series, the overseas market is shaping up to be the lifeblood of The Fate of the Furious. In fact, Deadline’s report notes that the imminent sequel is actually projected to perform slightly worse than its predecessor on home turf, with estimations ranging from $100-110 million at the domestic box office – for the sake of comparison, Furious 7 scored $148 million in 2015.
Despite mixed reviews, The Fate of the Furious is currently revving its engines ahead of a massive opening weekend. Exactly how much F. Gary Gray’s sequel manages to rake in will be told in time, but one thing’s for sure: even at 16 years of age, Universal’s Fast and Furious franchise still has the ability to draw in a global audience.