After logging $19.7M abroad and close to $44M advance ticket sales in China, Universal’s The Fate of the Furious looks to be zooming to an estimated $9M-$11M Thursday night at the domestic B.O per rival sources.
This is based off early showtimes, and keep in mind that once west coast registers are taken into account, the figure could potentially go higher, which was the case with Furious 7.
West coast showtimes for Furious 7 and Fast & Furious 6 benefited greatly from west coast Hispanic moviegoers, which respectively drew 27% and 23% according to ComScore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak audience polls.
In total, Furious 7‘s $15.8M Holy Thursday at 3,069 venues repped 23% of its Good Friday $67.4M business, the second best for that day after last year’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice ($81.55M). F6‘s Thursday night, which occurred prior to the Memorial Day stretch, grossed $6.5M ultimately repping 17% of the $38.7M made on its first Friday. Furious 7 set a new Easter opening record of $147.1M in 2015 before Batman v. Superman unseated it a year ago with a $166M three-day haul.
While the natural knee-jerk reaction here is to comp Fate of the Furious to Furious 7, Uni never intended the eighth-quel to emulate the late Paul Walker’s finale from a story or business standpoint. Already, we’re hearing from rival sources that F8‘s hourlies, while robust, are pacing at a differently from F7.
Early tracking indicated that Fate of the Furious is headed to a $100M-$110M domestic opening. The sequel will easily mark the best opening at the domestic box office for an African American director, a record which F8 helmer F. Gary Gray currently owns with Straight Outta Compton ($60.2M).
We’ll have more updates for you in the morning.
