‘Furious 7′ Racing to Fourth-Straight Win at U.S. Box Office
“Furious 7″ still has plenty of gas in the tank, as the tentpole’s poised to win its fourth straight weekend at the U.S. box office with about $16 million, according to early Friday estimates.
Lionsgate’s launch of “The Age of Adaline” and Sony’s second weekend of “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2″ will battle for second place in the $13 million to $14 million range.
If “Furious 7″ can maintain its lead this weekend, it will become the first film to launch with four consecutive victories at the U.S. box office since Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games” in 2012. Marvel/Disney’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” had four straight wins last summer domestically but in its fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh weekends in release.
“Furious 7,” starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and the late Paul Walker, crossed the $300 million mark in domestic grosses on Wednesday and became the 50th title to hit that milestone. It should wind up the weekend at about $318 million — which would put it in 38th place on that list, just behind “Iron Man.”
Universal’s “Furious 7″ has been even more powerful overseas, with $857 million banked so far. Universal said at CinemaCon on Thursday that it will become only the third film to gross over $1 billion overseas, joining “Avatar” and “Titanic.”
Lionsgate’s “The Age of Adaline” opened respectably with $575,000 in Thursday night preview showings at 2,100 U.S. theaters. The romantic fantasy, starring Blake Lively, is expected to edge “Furious 7″ on Friday with $5 million at 2,991 locations and finish the weekend above recent forecasts — which had pegged it at about $12 million.
Lively stars as a woman who stops aging after an auto accident. Michiel Huisman stars as the love interest along with Kathy Baker, Amanda Crew, Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn. Critics have been split on “Adaline,” which has a 54% “fresh” rating on the Rotten Tomatoes site.
“Adaline” carries a pricetag of $30 million and is also backed by Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Lakeshore Entertainment.
Sony’s “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2″ is expected to take in nearly $4 million Friday and will clear the $40 million mark in its domestic total by the end of weekend.
Open Road is opening World War II drama “Little Boy” at 1,045 locations, with forecasts indicating a modest $3 million weekend.
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