By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The high-octane thriller "Furious 7" maintained speed in its second week, racing away with $60.6 million at North American theaters and bringing its box-office total to a robust $252.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Universal's "Furious 7" more than lapped the competition. The only new wide release of the weekend, the rodeo romance "The Longest Ride," opened with $13.5 million.
That was good enough for third place for the Fox release, which stars Clint Eastwood's son, Scott Eastwood. In second was the DreamWorks animated alien adventure "Home," which pulled in $19 million in its third week of release.
But "Furious 7" continued to dominate the marketplace, dropping only 59 percent from its remarkable $147.2 million debut last weekend. Globally, it has already crossed $800 million in its first two weeks of release, according to Universal.
The weekend international total — an eye-popping $195 million — was boosted by the film premiering in China on Sunday, where it earned an estimated $68.6 million in just one day.
Over 10 days, "Furious 7," which prominently features a tribute to the late actor Paul Walker, has already out-grossed all previous installments of the 14-year-old franchise.
At its current pace, "Furious 7" will likely become the highest grossing film in Universal's history. The studio's "Jurassic Park," from 1993, holds Universal's mark with $1.02 billion worldwide.
It's a summer blockbuster-sized result for "Furious 7," but by opening in April, it has little competition in its way. On a much smaller scale, the critically acclaimed sci-fi film "Ex Machina" drew the year's largest theater average of $62,489 in four theaters.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Furious 7," $60.6 million ($195 million international).
2. "Home," $19 million ($15.2 million international).
3. "The Longest Ride," $13.5 million ($3 million international).
4. "Get Hard," $8.6 million ($1.4 million international).
5. "Cinderella," $7.2 million ($12.6 million international).
6. "The Divergent Series: Insurgent," $6.9 million ($7.9 million international).
7. "Woman in Gold," $5.9 million.
8. "It Follows," $2 million.
9. "Danny Collins," $1.6 million.
10. "While We're Young," $1.4 million.
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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:
1. "Furious 7," $195 million.
2. "Wolf Warriors," $18 million.
3. "Home," $15.2 million
4. "Cinderella," $12.6 million.
5. "Kingsman: The Secret Service," $9 million.
6. "Let's Get Married," $8.5 million.
7. "The Divergent Series: Insurgent," $7.9 million.
8. "Pourquoi j'ai (pas) mange mon pere," $3.5 million.
9. "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water," $3.2 million.
10. "The Longest Ride," $3 million.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More