Fast & Furious 7…

Wow: $1,152,710,000 and 7th highest-grossing movie of all time, so far

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/

 

It will finish in 3rd right behind Titanic, I'm floored that it's doing this well. $250 million in China already.

 

I have loved all of the F&F movies but I do think this one was even a little too over the top for my taste but I still enjoyed it. The Abu Dhabi car sequence is amazing but it is so ridiculous.

 

I like the way F&F 7 is only mentioned in terms of sales figures.

 

The entire sequence in the mountains was worth the price of admission for me.

 

That is absolutely incredible, far higher than I would've predicted. I would've expected about $800M, a little higher than Fast 6.

I still say Avengers 2 will blow everything away in 2 weeks. We'll see. The first Avengers went to $1.5B, and I'm betting this one won't be too far away from that.

 

Yes, that was my fave scene too

 

We'll see? He he I'll see ...the day after tomorrow. Avengers 2 strangely premiers in Italy even before the USA. 04/22/2015: my local multi has a seat reserved under my name

Back to FF7; this kind of success is indeed absolutely incredible; like you I would have said about $800M...maybe $850M worldwide but would have never expected $1B and counting; this is amazing and, imho, the right reward for the crew who had to rewrite the story and re-think the movie after Paul Walker's passing. Cheers, Universal!

 

Thats 1/2 the budget right there.

 

Sounds like a scene from Roger Rabbit.
Probably more subtle, right?

 

I am also shocked how well it's performing.

I figured after all was said and done around 1 billion.

 

FF 8 confirmed for April 2017 release

 

WOW! this is one hot franchise...

 

not surprised at all..ppl really love this franchise!

 

and they aren't counting the future home video release...correct?

 

it's going to be interesting...both fabulous! I wish they'd do a HULK with Mark Rufalo...so far he's been the best!

 

but that what makes it so much fun...impossible happenings!

 

Awright... scored a free pass to a screening next week at the Chinese fake-Imax theater in Hollywood. They've got "lasers."

 

If IMAX is testing their newest projection equipment at the Chinese theater does it really qualify as "fake-IMAX" any longer?

 

When you factor in the sentimental aspect of the film, I always though it would do well. What I don't know is whether the series has peaked financially. In some ways, these films are the much more expensive version of the serials of yesteryear like Flash Gordon and Sherlock Holmes.

 

I knew FF7 would do well when I saw the last scene in FF6. This was obviously before Walker's passing. I love the series, but even I have no idea what to expect for FF8. They will need to figure out how to reinvent themselves once more, because I don't know if you can just dial up what was done in FF5-7.

For me what makes the FF series work are the charismatic actors, the soundtrack, brutal fight scenes, practical stunts thought up by a first grader with too many Tonka toys and just enough story to let those elements shine, topped off with FF's unique brand of humor and callbacks. I feel FF8 needs to dial back the CGI and feature more iconic autos. If they can do that, devise a race-against-the clock sequence that is equal parts cool/crazy/visceral and one finale-worthy stunt we've never seen before, the rest should fall into place. Oh, and HFR 3D drone-shot footage please.

 

Vin wants NYC FF-8

2017 in theaters

 

Still climbing:

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $300,534,085 24.6%
+ Foreign: $921,000,000 75.4%
= Worldwide: $1,221,534,085

 

I just saw the movie at a SMPTE screening tonight at the TCL Chinese theater in Laser 4K, and thought it looked fantastic. It was shot in 2.8K on Alexa and uprezzed, but it looked fine. Color was terrific -- there was some orange/teal in certain sequences, but it didn't bother me at all. The looks varied all over the place depending upon the location and intent of the scene, and I thought it was all very appropriate and really nice looking.

I did spot a whole bunch of CG Paul Walker shots, but they were generally very well done and I was watching very carefully for them. I already knew all the stuff in Dubai was fake (since the actor had died before those scenes were shot), and it was clear to me there was a lot of face replacement in the fight scenes and stunts. The final scene (which I won't give away) was also clearly face-replacement. One tip-off is they didn't always get the texture, lighting, and eye-lines right -- the CG Walker was looking a little bit in the wrong direction sometimes. I also heard some awful dialogue sound in the mix in the scene with the actor in the parking garage, where it was clear they couldn't go in and loop it all and had to make do with the (living) actor's actual noisy location dialogue. I doubt if 99% of the audience would notice or care.

As great as the Imax Laser projected image was, the sound at the big Chinese Theater is still really crappy. Some things never change. It's been bad for about 40 years that I know of. Dialogue is muddy, there isn't enough high end for the center channel, and I think the surrounds are drowning out the fronts by at least 2-3 dB. Granted, some of this might be the mix, but this screening was supposed to promote the new Imax 12-channel "immersive" sound system, and if this is their flagship theater, they got some problems.

The picture was phenomenally good, though -- pretty much the best digital projection I've ever seen. Really deep blacks, super-bright whites (they were quoting a projected white level of 22fL, which is more than 50% higher than the usual theater film level of 14 fL), and detail and color were damn near flawless, sharp as a pin. The Chinese Theater is still kind of shabby (to me), and the seats are uncomfortable and not big enough. The whole place could use a coat of paint. I don't doubt they spent many millions on rewiring the joint and spending half a million plus on the projectors plus unknown thousands on a massive 90' x 45' screen, but jesus, can we get nicer chairs for an $18 premium-theater ticket?

Oh, and the stunningly beautiful picture did not compensate for the thoroughly stupid plot and nonexistent acting. It's a horrible, horrible movie. Technically, it was fascinating to watch, the stunts were incredible, and there's more VFX in this thing than there were in the last three Transformers films. And maybe more edits, too. It’s an exhausting movie to watch. Dumb to the 3rd power.

 

Oh it's horrible, horrible, terrible, terrible, awful, awful, horrendous, horrendous....please see a doctor for the uncontrolled adjective duplication disorder you are currently suffering from.