UPDATE: The Friday night box office was much bigger than anyone expected– $67.3 million. The three day weekend could be $150 million. Stay Tuned…
EARLIER: Death sells. “Fast and Furious 7,” Paul Walker’s final film and last appearance in the series, is going to have a record weekend. “FF7” should do well over $100 million– maybe as much as $125 million. That’s considerably more than “FF6” did in 2013, when it made $97 million Fri to Sun of Memorial Day weekend, and a total of $117 million for the four days. It’s also more than any “FF” movie has made.
The promotion is epic, as they say now adays. Vin Diesel even named his new baby after Walker. All the actors have been thoroughly deposed about Walker and his death– a tragedy certainly, and played now like it’s the loss of Marlon Brando and Lawrence Olivier. Walker was by all accounts a fun guy, good friend, and parent. But great actor? There won’t be an honorary Oscar coming anytime soon.
Since Walker’s death in November 2013, his family sued Porsche, saying the Carrera driven by Roger Rodas with Walker as a passenger was at fault. But Porsche says the whole thing was Rodas’s fault. After an investigation they determined that the tires were 9 years old and that the car had been altered beyond their specifications.
Still, “FF7” has been getting good reviews for its genre. It will be a suitable ending for Walker and the series. And the money that comes in will make everyone feel better.
