After three weekends in theaters, “The Fate of the Furious” has become the 30th film of all-time and the second film of 2017 to gross $1 billion worldwide at the box office.
F. Gary Gray’s entry into the “Fast & Furious” saga scored an estimated $19.4 million in its third frame, bringing its domestic total to $192 million and its worldwide total to $1.06 billion. While the film hasn’t performed nearly as strong domestically as “Furious 7” — “Fate of the Furious” failed to hit the $100 million in its opening — it has continued to enjoy incredible success in overseas markets, which accounts for 81 percent of its global total. That includes $361 million in China, which is a new box office record in that country among Hollywood imports. “Fate of the Furious” also holds the record for the highest three-day opening in China, with $199 million.
“The Fate of the Furious” is now the fourth-highest grossing film in the history of Universal Pictures, having just passed the $1.04 billion set by “Jurassic Park.” The top three films for the studio are “Jurassic World” ($1.67 billion), “Furious 7” ($1.52 billion) and “Minions” ($1.16 billion).
The rest of the Big Six studios shifted into cruise control in this final weekend prior to the start of the summer blockbuster season, but for smaller studios and distributors, it was very eventful for new releases. EuropaCorp and STX’s “The Circle” was expected to finish second this weekend, but instead finished behind two surprisingly strong new releases: “How to Be a Latin Lover” and “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.”
Riding off the strong fan following of its leading man, Mexican star Eugenio Derbez, “How to Be a Latin Lover” easily rose above its $7 million projection target, grossing an estimated $12 million from 1,118 screens. The comedy stars Derbez as a womanizing gold digger who is forced to move back in with his estranged sister (Salma Hayek) and his young nephew (Raphael Alejandro) after his rich, elderly wife blindsides him by leaving him for a younger man.
Derbez and Benjamin Odell produced the film, which was directed by Ken Marino and written by Chris Spain and Jon Zack. It has a 50 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with no CinemaScore rating currently available.
“Baahubali 2,” the sequel to the smash hit Bollywood historical epic “Baahubali: The Beginning,” had a mammoth estimated opening of $10.4 million from just 420 screens. Distributed by Great India Films, the film tells the tales of Shivudu, a young man who discovers he is the long-lost son of an assassinated king and soon learns of the treachery that resulted in the death of his parents and the loss of his birthright. The films have enjoyed critical acclaim and become a franchise in India, and now it seems interest has poured over into the U.S.
“The Circle,” meanwhile, settled for fourth with an estimated $9.3 million, which is below the $10-13 million projection range set for the adaptation of Dave Eggers’ tech novel. The film had an impressive cast list that was highlighted by Emma Watson and John Boyega playing two employees of the titular Silicon Valley company that attempt to thwart a privacy-destroying project helmed by The Circle’s CEO, played by Tom Hanks. But a dismal 18 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating and D+ CinemaScore rating destroyed the film’s momentum.
“The Boss Baby” rounded out the top five with $9.2 million to bring it close to the $150 million domestic mark after five frames, while Watson‘s other film, “Beauty and the Beast,” was finally bumped out of the top 5 in its seventh weekend in theaters, making an estimated $6.6 million to bring its domestic cume to $480 million. That total is good enough to put it ninth on the list of all-time domestic totals, needing another six million to pass the $486 million made by “Finding Dory” last year. With $1.14 billion worldwide, the film has now passed “Skyfall” to crack the top 15 highest grossing movies of all time.