The eighth chapter in The Fast and the Furious saga, The Fate of the Furious [FAST8] drifts into theaters with many schools on Spring Break for the Easter holiday weekend. Two years ago, Furious 7 set the April opening weekend record with a franchise high $147 million, fueled by the last appearance of the late Paul Walker. Rather than ending the series, Universal has moved on to even bigger spectacles with The Fate of the Furious. Vin Diesel’s [VDIES] hero has been turned rogue by a new villain, played by Charlize Theron [CTHER]. The previous villain played by Jason Statham [JSTAT] is now a good guy teamed with the cop played Dwayne Johnson [TROCK] and the rest of the crew. New director F. Gary Gray [FGGRA] takes the action to Cuba, New York City and the Arctic Circle. Fast & Furious 6 opened to $117 million over the 4-day Memorial holiday weekend in 2013. Anticipation and interest remain high in the diverse fanbase as seen in the trailers' millions of views. Showing in 4311 theaters, The Fate of the Furious could hit $126 million.
The holiday weekend should provide a boost for all the holdover films. The Boss Baby [BOSSB] will cross the $100M marker during its third weekend at around $15 million.
Targeted at opposite ends of the age bracket, Smurfs: The Lost Village [SMRF3] and Going in Style [GOINS] are both likely to hold close to 60% of their debut for a sophomore weekend of $8 million and $7 million, respectively.
Fox Searchlight expands Gifted [GIFTD] wide to 1146 theaters. The PG-13 rated drama starring Chris Evans [CEVAN] scored a strong PTA of nearly $8000 during its limited opening weekend. Gifted could wrap up $3.5 million.
That’s the whisper on the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): FAST8, VDIES, CTHER, JSTAT, TROCK, FGGRA, BOSSB, SMRF3, GOINS, GIFTD, CEVAN