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Box Office Brasserie – Movie News For Movie Lovers
A Date With Fate
“It’s been a long day, without you my friend…and I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.”
That was Paul Walker’s goodbye ballad, but it was never the end of the road for the “Fast & Furious” franchise. No way. No how. Fast forward to 24 months later and “The Fate of the Furious,” the eighth film in the high octane series, is ready to rumble.
And with no studio daring to line up against Vin Diesel and company, F&F has the box office fast lane all to itself as the only wide release on this very profitable Easter weekend.
But it doesn’t stop there: Universal’s muscle machine is ramping up for at least one more trilogy as part 9 and 10 are already on track, pacing two years out apiece.
So, after Walker’s epilogue, “Furious 7,” what can we expect from an eighth cinematic lap?
Well, the last installment left the record books in the dust as fans said their goodbyes by putting the pedal to the metal, as “Furious 7” debuted with $147M and blew past $1.5B worldwide–the sixth highest grossing film of all time globally.
No biggie.
“Fate of the Furious” probably won’t match that mark, but it’ll be closer than most expected as this series keeps ramping upwards overseas.
In 4,300+ theaters expect a raucous debut of around $125M and an eye-popping $400M worldwide. That’s some serious traction, folks.
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In limited release, Open Road Films unloads their animated flick, “Spark,” into 350+ theaters. This is the equivalent of dropping a speed bump to stop Diesel’s Dominic Toretto. As “Smurfs: The Lost Village” can testify–the family marketplace is all filled up right now. This is crash and burn territory. Will be lucky to hit $750k.
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In exclusive release, Bleecker Street rolls out the critically acclaimed “The Lost City of Z” into four theaters. The Amazonian adventure tale, set in the 1920s, stars Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, and Sienna Miller.
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WEEKEND ESTIMATES
- The Fate of the Furious – $123M
- The Boss Baby – $17M
- Beauty and the Beast – $15M
- Smurfs: The Lost Village – $10M
- Going in Style – $8M
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PRIME CUT OF THE WEEK – Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok (November 3, 2017)
Is this “Thor 3” or a campy 80s sci-fi classic? It’s both, and that’s really, really cool. Oh, yeah, and Jeff Goldblum. Can’t believe we have to wait until November for this.
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STREAMING KEEP OF THE WEEK – Netflix’s Master of None: Season 2 (May 12, 2017)
Aziz Ansari is back for more sublime existential actor-ing. Between this and the final season of GAME OF THRONES this summer, the internets is gonna have a major meltdown.
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Jeff Bock, NewsWhistle’s movie editor, is the senior box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations in Los Angeles, California. He can be reached at Jeff@NewsWhistle.com.
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Poster Image (The Fate of the Furious) Courtesy of Universal Pictures; Poster Design by Concept Arts
