THE seventh installment in the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise is breaking major box-office records. In the US, it has grossed $143.6 million to claim the ninth-highest opening weekend of all time. Meanwhile, in India, Koimoi.com reports that it is all set to become the highest grossing Hollywood film of all time.
‘Furious 7’ took Rs 12.30 crores on its opening day and another Rs 12 crores on Saturday, with reports estimating that its total weekend haul could be around Rs45 crore. In sharp contrast, Sushant Singh Rajput starrer ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’ only managed to pull in Rs 8.95 crore in its first two days.
It is important to note that ‘Furious 7’ has two things working in its favour--a wider release and the attention over this being the late Paul Walker’s final film. The Hollywood blockbuster has opened in 2,300 screens across India, as opposed to only 1,240 screens for Dibakar Banerjee’s stylish detective flick. Secondly, in a manner similar to what happened with Heath Ledger and ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008), audiences seem to be flocking to theatres to watch Walker’s last role, which got cut short when he died in a car crash on November 13, 2013.
Part of his performance in ‘Furious 7’ has been recreated using computer generated imagery (CGI).
