Fate Of The Furious Not Expected To Make As Much As Fast 7 In The US

The next Fast and Furious movie, The Fate of the Furious, is not expected to make as much money as Furious 7 during its opening weekend in the US. However, the international story may be different.

Variety reports that The Fate of the Furious is expected to bring in $100 million "and change" during its opening weekend in the US. That's a huge number, but it's below Furious 7's $147.2 million domestic opening weekend back in 2015. As the site reports, the death of actor Paul Walker made Furious 7 stand as a sort of "cinematic eulogy" for the actor, who died in a 2013 car crash.

Internationally, The Fate of the Furious is expected to make more than $380 million and possibly as high as $400 million or more. If it can reach that $400 million, it would surpass Furious 7, which minted $397.7 million from its global first weekend. Helping Fate of the Furious is that it's opening in China and Russia right away; Furious 7 opened in those markets after the film's initial release.

For China specifically, Fate of the Furious has set a new record for pre-sales. The franchise is strong there, as Furious 7 is the highest-grossing movie produced in the US for China, bringing in $391.3 million.

Sources told Variety that The Fate of the Furious had a production budget of $250 million, though production company Universal has not confirmed this.

The Fate of the Furious opens this Friday, April 14. Directed by Straight Outta Compton's F. Gary Gray, the movie stars Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson, Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, Michelle Rodriguez, Helen Mirren, and Kurt Russell.