 "Fast & Furious 7")
True to its name, the seventh instalment of the Fast & Furious franchise is racing its way to box office success in India.
The film opened with Rs 12 crore on April 2, and over the four-day weekend, went on to make net Rs 49 crore at the Indian box office.
This puts the movie, starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and the late Paul Walker, on the verge of joining the few Hollywood movies that have made more than Rs 50 crore in India. In fact, it is now just Rs 30 crore short of beating James Cameron's Avatar (lifetime collection Rs 78 crore) as the highest grossing Hollywood movie in India.
Until now, the Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone-starrer Spiderman Reboot - The Amazing Spiderman 2 (2014), was the highest opening movie at Rs 7.5 crore. It went on to make Rs 30.5 crore over the four-day extended weekend of its release. The film's predecessor - The Amazing Spiderman (2012) - made Rs 29 crore in its first weekend. Cameron's science fiction Avatar (2009) had made Rs 16 crore in the weekend of its release, while Marvel's Avengers made Rs 15 crore.
Suniel Wadhwa, an independent distributor and box office analyst, said: "The seventh instalment in the Fast & Furious franchise has a real shot at setting a new record haul for a Hollywood movie weekend collection, as it opens in 1,800-2000 screens in original and dubbed versions."
He added the action, crazy stunts and a solid helping of one-liners have helped the film catch the fancy of Indian audiences. "The promos suggest the franchise hasn't forgotten the theme that resonated so much with moviegoers. As Diesel's character points out: 'I don't have friends, I got family.' There's also a sense of finality surrounding this outing. Marketing material features the phrase 'one last ride', implying this is, in fact, the last Fast & Furious movie," he adds.
The movie has also received a lot of attention, being Walker's last assignment before he met an untimely death in a car crash in late 2013. This, coupled with the marketing and content of the film, has helped it break records across the world, too. The film made $143.6 million, the ninth highest opening weekend of all time. Its global box office collection for the weekend was $384 million.
In contrast, Dibakar Bannerjee's Byomkesh Bakshy! has managed an opening weekend collection of Rs 14 crore. The film made Rs 4.2 crore on the first day (Friday), followed by Rs 4.95 crore on Saturday. It was released in around 1,200 screens in India.
