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| Starring Vin Diesel (right) and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, "The Fate of the Furious" tops the North American box office for a second weekend. — AFP/VNA Photo |
Viet Nam News
LOS ANGELES — Universal’s The Fate of the Furious topped the North American box office for a second weekend, industry data showed on Monday, taking US$38.4 million as it closed in on $1 billion worldwide.
The eighth installment in the high-octane series starring Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson shattered records on its opening weekend with global revenues of more than $500 million, and that figure has since surged to $908.3 million
Domestically, the movie is lagging behind Furious 7, which took $250 million over its first two weekends, but with strong performances in foreign markets it is still expected to cross the $1 billion worldwide benchmark later this week.
Directed by F Gary Gray of Straight Outta Compton fame, Furious 8, also featuring Charlize Theron, Tyrese Gibson and hip-hop star Ludacris, follows Diesel’s Dom Toretto, who is coerced into joining forces with a cyber-terrorist played by Theron.
It was a disappointing week for the five new countrywide releases -- Born in China, Unforgettable, The Promise, Phoenix Forgotten and Free Fire -- none of which made it into the top five or managed to cross the $5 million mark.
Second place went to a film in its fourth week -- DreamWorks animation The Boss Baby which took in $12.7 million, according to industry data tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Fox’s tale of rivalry between infants and puppies -- featuring Alec Baldwin as the voice of the tie-wearing chief baby -- has earned a total of $137 million.
Disney’s third-placed Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, continued to draw viewers, earning $9.7 million in its sixth week for a total of $471 million domestically and $1.1 billion worldwide.
In fourth, Warner Bros comedy Going in Style, starring Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin and Michael Caine as aging bank robbers, made $4.91 million,swapping places with Smurfs: The Lost Village, which took $30,000 less.
The Sony animation has amassed a disappointing $33.4 million total in three weeks following an opening described by the Hollywood Reporter as "one of the worst starts in recent memory for an animated offering from a major Hollywood studio". — AFP
