"Furious 7," the seventh film in "The Fast and the Furious" franchise, officially broke the April box office records with a domestic total of $143.6 million, totaling to $384 million worldwide.
This makes it the biggest box office success in history for April, and it honors "Furious 7" with the ninth biggest opening of all time. The previous holder for the largest box office opening in April was "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" which earned a total of $95 million.
It also has the biggest launch since 2013's "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which is the sixth biggest opening in history having earned $158 million domestically on its opening weekend.
The earnings of "Furious 7" is also roughly 50 percent more than what "Fast & Furious 6" earned on its opening, a total of $97.4 million, and it is also the first time that a film in the franchise broke the $100 million mark on its first weekend out in theaters.
The film has nothing to stop its success at the box office until May, which sees the release of both "Avengers: Age of Ultron" on May 1 and "Mad Max: Fury Road" on May 15. This gives "Furious 7" three more weekends to continue raking in earnings without the fear of competition stealing the spotlight.
The success of "Furious 7" can be attributed to many things. For one, the film has an 82 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, signifying that critics like the film and it has a lot of star power due to the presence of Jason Statham, Vin Diesel, The Rock, and Paul Walker. Also, the tragic death of the latter also brings in a level of intrigue for many film viewers who want to see how the franchise treats the exit of Walker's character.
It is therefore no surprise that Universal Pictures and actor Vin Diesel announced that the franchise will continue, with "The Fast and the Furious 8" reportedly set in New York.
