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The fourth film in the "Fast & Furious" franchise took the box office over the week, landing at the top spot with over $70 million worth of tickets sold.
The film, which reunites the original cast members of its very first movie (Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster), reportedly earned $72.5 million in its first three days, demolishing last week's record holder "Monsters vs. Aliens" for the best opening week of the year.
The first two films from the Universal Studios-helmed franchise also fare well their opening weeks -- the first opened to $40.1 million in 2000, and then $50.5 million in 2003. This new installment has already earned more than the previous installment, 2006's "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," which opened with $24 million and ended up making $62.5 million.
According to Reuters, the highly anticipated reunion of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker -- who resurrect their roles as old foes who team up to confront a common enemy -- cost about $85 million to make, so they're sure to make that back by next weekend.
"We knew there was a great buzz from the get-go," Nikki Rocco, president of domestic distribution at Universal, said. "The marketing plan was spot-on about how exciting this rendition was."
Coming in right behind "Fast & Furious" was last week's box office winner, "Monsters vs. Aliens." The film slipped to #2 with $33.5 million in its second weekend, bringing its two-week total to $105.7 million for the cartoon.
In at #3 was Liongate's ghost story, "The Haunting in Connecticut," which scared up $9.6 million, taking its 10-day total to $37.2 million. Then, right behind it was Nicholas Cage's "Knowing," taking in another $8.1 million to put it at #4, while "I Love You, Man" took it $7.8 to grab the #5 spot.
Other new releases this week didn't do as well as "F&F". The R-rated comedy "Adventureland" tanked, pulling in just $6 million over the weekend. It had low expectations, and delivered.
Rounding out the top 10 were "Duplicity" at #7 with $4.3 million; "Race To Witch Mountain" at #8 with $3.4 million; "12 Rounds" at #9 with $2.3 million; and "Sunshine Cleaning" at #10 with $1.9 million.
According to the Associated Press, this weekend brought in $160 million, up 68% from the same period last year.
For the year, domestic revenues are running at a record pace of $2.57 billion, up 14.5 percent from 2008's. Factoring in 2009's higher ticket prices, movie attendance is running 12.8 percent ahead of last year's.
The film, which reunites the original cast members of its very first movie (Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster), reportedly earned $72.5 million in its first three days, demolishing last week's record holder "Monsters vs. Aliens" for the best opening week of the year.
The first two films from the Universal Studios-helmed franchise also fare well their opening weeks -- the first opened to $40.1 million in 2000, and then $50.5 million in 2003. This new installment has already earned more than the previous installment, 2006's "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," which opened with $24 million and ended up making $62.5 million.
According to Reuters, the highly anticipated reunion of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker -- who resurrect their roles as old foes who team up to confront a common enemy -- cost about $85 million to make, so they're sure to make that back by next weekend.
"We knew there was a great buzz from the get-go," Nikki Rocco, president of domestic distribution at Universal, said. "The marketing plan was spot-on about how exciting this rendition was."
Coming in right behind "Fast & Furious" was last week's box office winner, "Monsters vs. Aliens." The film slipped to #2 with $33.5 million in its second weekend, bringing its two-week total to $105.7 million for the cartoon.
In at #3 was Liongate's ghost story, "The Haunting in Connecticut," which scared up $9.6 million, taking its 10-day total to $37.2 million. Then, right behind it was Nicholas Cage's "Knowing," taking in another $8.1 million to put it at #4, while "I Love You, Man" took it $7.8 to grab the #5 spot.
Other new releases this week didn't do as well as "F&F". The R-rated comedy "Adventureland" tanked, pulling in just $6 million over the weekend. It had low expectations, and delivered.
Rounding out the top 10 were "Duplicity" at #7 with $4.3 million; "Race To Witch Mountain" at #8 with $3.4 million; "12 Rounds" at #9 with $2.3 million; and "Sunshine Cleaning" at #10 with $1.9 million.
According to the Associated Press, this weekend brought in $160 million, up 68% from the same period last year.
For the year, domestic revenues are running at a record pace of $2.57 billion, up 14.5 percent from 2008's. Factoring in 2009's higher ticket prices, movie attendance is running 12.8 percent ahead of last year's.
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