Fast X Races to $319 Million Opening at the Global Box Office

Fast X has gotten off to a great start, collecting an impressive $319 million (about Rs. 2,640 crore) at the global box office in its opening weekend. Setting up the end of the globe-trotting action franchise, the film is reported to be performing better than the projected $220 million (about Rs. 1,821 crore). While Fast X made a decent $67.5 million (about Rs. 559 crore) within the US and Canada, the global showing boosted the film to box office success — earning $251.4 million (about Rs. 2,081 crore) in other markets. It is now the second-biggest theatrical opening this year, coming behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

With these figures, the Louis Leterrier-directed action film easily snatched the box office crown from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — $282.1 million (about Rs. 2,335 crore) — which in its third weekend has collected $659.1 million (about Rs. 5,455 crore) in total. Fast X's debut marks the third-best global opening in the franchise, coming behind The Fate of the Furious and Furious 7 — the latter breaking the billion-dollar mark in merely 17 days since its release in April 2015. The director is also on-board to direct the second instalment of this two-part finale having replaced Justin Lin, who left mid-production due to creative differences. The sequel is eyeing a 2025 release window.

Keeping in fashion with recent Hollywood releases, China emerged as the top performer for Fast X, where it opened to an outstanding $78.3 million (about Rs. 648 crore). The film then made a sizeable $16.7 million (about Rs. 138 crore) in Mexico, followed by a $9.7 million (about Rs. 80 crore) in France. The Brazilian region added $9.6 million (about Rs. 79 crore) to the pool, while India filled out the top five ranking by throwing in another $8.6 million (about Rs. 71 crore). As per The Hollywood Reporter, the film earned a franchise-best $7 million (about Rs. 58 crore) in Japan.

Despite dinged reviews, Fast X seems to be performing well among the general audience, scoring an 86 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That said, the release window has put it in a tight spot, resulting in a not-so-long runway as it heads into direct competition against Disney's The Little Mermaid live-action remake, releasing May 26. In India, advance ticket bookings went live in February — a three-month headstart, which is a big deal for Hollywood releases in the country.

In Fast X, Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto has a new formidable enemy in town — Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), who intends to break the former's family piece by piece, in a quest for vengeance. Having witnessed his druglord father Hernan Reyes' murder in 2011's Fast Five, the son had been planning his revenge for the past 12 years — going so far as to even set a bomb loose in the streets of Rome and the Vatican. The film also marked Brie Larson's entry into the franchise as Tess, a rogue representative who allies with Dom's crew.

Fast X is now showing in theatres worldwide.