The Fast & Furious franchise refuses to slow down. During the Memorial Day weekend, it broke box office records with its latest outing, Fast & Furious 6.
Universal’s Fast & Furious series can’t be stopped. After a decade-plus run in theaters, its audience continues to grow. 2011’s Fast Five shocked us with an impressive $86 million opening, which its sequel has surpassed.
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Fast & Furious 6 dominated the holiday weekend, setting a new record. Domestically, it earned $117 million; worldwide, it made $314 million. It’s the largest opening for any Universal Pictures release. During the past four days, it’s earned what most films would be lucky to make in a lifetime.
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Stateside, Fast & Furious 6, with the help of The Hangover Part III ($50.2 million), Star Trek Into Darkness ($47.1 million), Epic ($42.8 million), Iron Man 3 ($24.6 million) and The Great Gatsby ($17 million) helped make this the biggest Memorial Day weekend in history.
How do they do it? How does a veteran franchise stay popular with half a dozen films under its belt? Dave Karger of Fandango.com (via The Washington Post) believes he knows the secret to its success.
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“It’s amazing how this franchise was considered all but dead after the third film, but the filmmakers and the studio did a great job of convincing the original cast members to come back, giving it a different feel and really expanding its scope.”
We also think the shift in focus helped. The series is no longer about street racing. It’s transformed into a heist-centered action franchise. It was a great way to revamp the property while opening it up to a new demographic.
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