NewDelhi, April 8 – Paul Walker’s last film Furious 7 has turned out to be a game changer in the business of Hollywood films in India. The high-octane action film has pocketed Rs.81 crore in the country.
According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, Furious 7 earned Rs.81 crore (gross) from Thursday to Monday. Fast and Furious 7 made the highest opening weekend collection for a Hollywood movie in India by grossing Rs.70 crores from 2600 screens across the country, according to Universal Pictures India.
The movie, dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, marked the final appearance of Paul Walker who died in a car crash before finishing shooting on the movie. His brothers stood in for certain scenes involving the late actor.
Fast and Furious veterans Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster returned for the 7th installment. Indian actor Ali Fazal had a guest appearance in the movie.”Fast and Furious is undoubtedly one of the world’s biggest franchises.
We expected huge numbers to come from India in the first weekend itself. This is a huge achievement for a Hollywood movie in India. Hopefully, the will continue to go strong and attract more audiences to the theatres in the coming weeks,” Sarabjit Singh, GM, Universal Pictures India said in a statement.
The seventh instalment in the F&F series picked up a stunning USD 143.6 million from 4,004 locations to easily top the US box office, blowing past the USD 95 million debut of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and stands as the highest-grossing kick-off for any film in the Fast and Furious franchise. It also ranks ninth among the top ten openings in history.
While the Fast and Furious films have grown in popularity over the past three films, the mega-opening for Furious 7 was also at least partially tied to audience interest in star Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in Nov. 2013 before the film was completed.
-INDIA TODAY
