Furious 7 (often stylized as Furious Seven and alternatively known as Fast Seven or Fast
& Furious 7)[7] is a 2015 Americanaction
film directed by James Wan and written by Chris Morgan. It is the seventh
installment in the Fast and
the Furious franchise. The
film stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Kurt Russell, and Jason Statham. Furious 7 follows Dominic Toretto (Diesel),
Brian O'Conner (Walker) and the rest of their team, who have returned to the United States to live normal lives after securing
amnesty for their past crimes in Fast
& Furious 6(2013), until Deckard Shaw (Statham), a rogue special forces
assassin seeking to avenge his comatose younger brother, puts them in danger
once again.[8]
With the previous
three installments set between 2
Fast 2 Furious (2003) and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo
Drift (2006), Furious 7 is the first installment in the
franchise to take place after Tokyo
Drift. The film also marks the final film appearance of Walker, who died in
a single-vehicle crash on November 30, 2013, with filming
only half-completed.[9] Following Walker's
death, filming was delayed for script rewrites, and his brothers, Caleb and Cody, were used among others as
stand-ins to complete his remaining scenes.[10]
Plans for a seventh
installment were first announced in February 2012 when Johnson stated that
production on the film would begin after the completion of Fast & Furious 6. In April
2013, Wan, predominantly known for horror films, was announced to direct the
film in place of Justin Lin, who
left the franchise after directing the previous four installments. Casting
began in the same month with the re-signing of Diesel and Walker, and an
initial release date was set. Principal
photography began in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2013, resumed in
April 2014 and ended in July 2014, with other filming locations including Los Angeles, Colorado, Abu Dhabi andTokyo.
Furious 7 premiered in Los
Angeles on April 1, 2015, and was first released in Australia on April 2, 2015, and then in the
United States on April 3, 2015. The film was also released in 3D, IMAX
3D, and 4DX internationally. Upon release, the
film became a critical and commercial success, with praise being aimed at the
film's action sequences and its tribute to Walker. It netted around $354
million profit for the studio. The film grossed $397.6 million worldwide in its
first five days of release, which is the fourth-highest-grossing
opening of all time. The film has grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide, making
it the highest-grossing film in the franchise after just twelve days, the third-highest-grossing film of 2015[11] and the sixth-highest-grossing film of all
time. A sequel is scheduled to be released on April
14, 2017.
Plot[edit]
After defeating Owen Shaw and his crew and securing
amnesty for their past crimes, Dominic "Dom" Toretto, Brian O'Conner,
and the rest of their team have returned to the United States to live normal
lives again. Brian begins to accustom himself to life as a father, while Dom
tries to help Letty Ortiz regain her memories. Meanwhile, Owen's older brother,
Deckard Shaw, breaks into the secure hospital the comatose Owen is being held
in and swears vengeance against Dom, before breaking into Luke Hobbs' DSS office to extract profiles of
Dom's crew. After revealing his identity, Shaw engages Hobbs in a fight, and
escapes when he detonates a bomb that severely injures Hobbs. Dom later learns
from his sister Mia that she is pregnant again and convinces her to tell Brian.
However, a bomb, disguised in a package sent from Tokyo, explodes and destroys the
Toretto house just seconds after Han, a member of their team, is killed by Shaw
in Tokyo. Dom later visits Hobbs in a hospital, where he learns that Shaw is a
rogue special forces assassin seeking to avenge his brother. Dom then travels
to Tokyo to claim Han's body, and meets and races Sean Boswell, a friend of
Han's who gives him personal items found at Han's crash site.
At Han's funeral in Los Angeles, Dom notices a car observing
them, and after a chase, confronts its driver, Shaw. Both prepare to fight,
Shaw slips away when a covert ops team arrives and opens fire. The team is led
by a man who calls himself Mr. Nobody, who says that he will assist Dom in
stopping Shaw if he helps him obtain the God's Eye, a computer program that
uses digital devices to track down a person, and save its creator, a hacker
named Ramsey, from a mercenary named Mose Jakande. Dom, Brian, Letty, Roman
Pearce, and Tej Parker then airdrop their cars over the Caucasus
Mountains in Azerbaijan, ambush Jakande's convoy, and
rescue Ramsey. The team then heads to Abu Dhabi, where a billionaire has
acquired the flash drive containing the God's Eye, and manages to steal it from
the owner. With the God's Eye near telecommunications
repeaters, the
team tracks down Shaw, who is waiting at a remote factory. Dom, Brian, Mr.
Nobody and his team attempt to capture Shaw, but are ambushed by Jakande and
his team, and are forced to flee while Jakande obtains the God's Eye. At his
own request, Mr. Nobody is then left to be evacuated by helicopter. Left with
no other choice, the team decides to return to Los Angeles to fight Shaw,
Jakande and his men. Meanwhile, Brian promises Mia that once they deal with
Shaw, he will dedicate himself entirely to their family.
While Jakande pursues Brian and the rest of the
team with a stealth helicopter and a aerial
drone, Ramsey
attempts to hack into the God's Eye. Hobbs, seeing the team in trouble, leaves
the hospital and destroys the drone with an ambulance. Ramsey then regains
control of the God's Eye and shuts it down. Meanwhile, Dom and Shaw engage in a
one-on-one brawl on a parking garage, before Jakande intervenes and attacks
them both. Shaw is defeated when part of the parking garage collapses beneath
him. Dom then launches his vehicle at Jakande's helicopter, tossing Shaw's bag
of grenades onto its skids, before injuring himself when his car lands and
crashes. Hobbs then shoots the bag of grenades from ground level, destroying
the helicopter and killing Jakande. Dom is pulled from the wreckage of his car,
believed dead. As Letty cradles Dom's body in her arms, she reveals that she
has regained her memories, and that she remembers their wedding. Dom regains
consciousness soon after, remarking, "It's about time".
Shaw is taken into custody by Hobbs and locked away
in a secret, high-security prison, 32 meters underground. At a beach, Brian and
Mia play with their son while Dom, Letty, Roman, Tej and Ramsey observe,
acknowledging that Brian is better off retired with his family. Dom silently
leaves, but Brian catches up with him at a crossroad. As Dom remembers the
times that he had with Brian, they bid each other farewell and drive off in
separate directions.
Cast[edit]
Furious 7 marked the final film performance
of Paul Walker, who died in a car accident on November 30, 2013. The film was
dedicated to his memory.
For more
details on the characters, see List of The Fast and the
Furious characters.
·
Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, a former criminal and
professional street racer who has retired and settled down with his wife,
Letty.
·
Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner, a former FBI agent-turned-criminal and
professional street racer who has retired and settled down with his partner,
Mia, and their son, Jack.
·
Caleb and Cody
Walker, Paul's
younger brothers, were used among others as Stand-Ins to complete his remaining
scenes following their brother's death in a single-vehicle crash on November 30, 2013.[10]
·
Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs, a DSS agent who allied with Dom and his
team after their outings in Rio de Janeiro and Europe. It is later revealed that he is
also a father, to a young girl. Johnson initially said that if Universal
Pictures pursued
the accelerated development of a seventh film beginning in the summer, he would
be unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts with filming on Hercules.[12] However, as production for the
film would commence in September, he confirmed his return for the film, as Hercules would complete production in time
to enable him to film a significant part.[13]
·
Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz, Dom's wife and a
professional street racer, who was revealed to have suffered from amnesia after
being presumed dead in Fast & Furious.
·
Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce, a member of
Dom's team and a childhood friend of Brian.
·
Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Tej Parker, a mechanic and
technician, and a friend of Brian and Roman's from Miami.
·
Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto, Dom's younger
sister and a former member of his team who has settled down with her partner,
Brian, and their son, Jack.
·
Djimon Hounsou as Mose Jakande, a Somalian
mercenary and terrorist who leads a private military company that allies with
Shaw and uses the God's Eye to track its creator and use her to track down his
enemies.[14]
·
Tony Jaa as Kiet, a member of Jakande's
team who possesses great agility, athleticism and fighting prowess. Thai
martial arts actor Jaa was confirmed to have joined the cast in August 2013,
making his Hollywood debut.[15][16]
·
Ronda Rousey as Kara, the Head of Security for
an Abu Dhabi billionaire. Rousey's involvement was confirmed in
August 2013. Having committed to The Expendables 3 at the same time (along with
Russell, who later pulled out, and Statham), Rousey was forced to shoot both
films back-to-back in order to allow herself 45 days to focus on training for
her UFC championship rematch against Miesha Tate. Her participation in the film
was similar to that of Gina Carano making the transition from mixed
martial arts fighting to acting, following Carano's involvement in Fast
& Furious 6.[17]
·
Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey, a British computer hacktivist and the creator of the God's Eye,
who allies with Dom and his team after being saved from Jakande and helps them
to regain control of her program.[14]
·
Kurt Russell as Mr. Nobody, the leader of a
covert ops team who agrees to help Dom stop Shaw if he can help him prevent
Jakande from obtaining a computer program called the God's Eye.
·
Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw, a rogue special
forces assassin seeking to avenge his comatose younger brother after his demise
at the hands of Dom and his team inSpain.
·
Sung Kang as Han, a member in Dominic's
crew, appearing in archive footage.
·
Gal Gadot as Gisele, a member in Dominic's
crew, appearing in archive footage.
·
Lucas Black as Sean Boswell, an American
street racer who lives in Tokyo whom Dom meets when he travels to
Tokyo to claim the body of Han, a mutual friend of theirs killed by Shaw. In
September, it was confirmed that Black had signed on to reprise his role as
Boswell for Furious 7 and two more installments.[18][19]
·
Elsa Pataky as Elena Neves, a DSS agent and
former Rio police officer who moved to the United States to become Hobbs' new
partner at the DSS.
·
Noel Gugliemi as Hector, a street race
organizer, reprising his role from the first film.
·
John Brotherton as Sheppard, Mr. Nobody's
right-hand man.[14][20][21][22]
Ali Fazal plays Safar, a friend of Ramsey
to whom she sent the God's Eye for safekeeping. It is Fazal's first appearance
in an American film. He described his role as a cameo.[23]Luke
Evans briefly reprises his role from the previous film as
Owen Shaw, the comatose younger brother of the film's primary antagonist.[24]
Australian rapper Iggy Azalea makes a cameo appearance as a
Race Wars fan; she contributed to the soundtrack.[25][26][27] American singer-rapper T-Pain appears as himself as he DJs a
party in Abu Dhabi.[28][29] Klement Tinaj cameos as a Race Wars Racer.[30]
Bow Wow and Nathalie Kelley appear in archive footage from The
Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift as Twinkie and Neela, respectively. Tego
Calderón and Don
Omar appear as
Leo and Santos, respectively, in archive footage from Fast
Five.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
On October 21, 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that Universal
Studios was
considering filming two sequels—Fast Six and Fast Seven—back-to-back with a single storyline running
through both films. Both would be written by Chris Morgan and directed by Justin
Lin, who had
been the franchise's writer and director, respectively, since The
Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006).[31] On December 20, 2011, following
the release of Fast Five, Vin Diesel stated that Fast Six would be split into two parts,
with writing for the two films occurring simultaneously. On the decision,
Diesel said:[32]
We have to pay off this story, we
have to service all of these character relationships, and when we started
mapping all that out it just went beyond 110 pages ... The studio
said, 'You can't fit all that story in one damn movie!'[32]
However, in an interview on February 15, 2012, Dwayne
Johnson stated
that the two intended sequels would no longer be filmed simultaneously because
of weather issues in filming locations, and that production on Fast Seven would only begin after the
completion of Fast Six.[33]
In April 2013, during post-production of the
retitled Fast & Furious 6, Lin announced that he would not
return to direct a seventh film, as the studio wanted to produce the film on an
accelerated schedule for release in summer 2014. This would have required Lin
to begin pre-production on the sequel while performing post-production on Fast & Furious 6, which he considered would
affect the quality of the final product. Despite the usual two-year gap between
the previous installments, Universal chose to pursue a sequel quicker due to
having fewer reliable franchises than its competitor studios.[34] However, subsequent interviews
with Lin have suggested that the sixth film was always intended to be the final
installment directed by him.[35]
In April 2013, Australian director James
Wan,
predominantly known for horror films, was announced as the sequel's
director, with Neal H. Moritz and Michael Fottrell returning to
produce and Morgan returning to write the script, his fifth in the franchise.
On April 16, 2013, Diesel announced that the sequel would be released on July
11, 2014.[36] In May 2013, Diesel said that the
sequel would feature Los Angeles, Tokyo and the Middle
East as
locations.[37][38]
Filming[edit]
Principal photography began in early September 2013
in Atlanta, Georgia, with a casting call issued.[39][40] Abu
Dhabi was also
a filming location;[41] the production crew chose it over Dubai, as they would benefit from the
Emirate's 30% rebate scheme.[42] Pikes
Peak Highway in Colorado was closed in September to film
some driving sequences.[43]
On September 16, the production filmed with Paul
Walker and the
Kimsey twins, playing his son, Jack,[44] in front of an Atlanta elementary
school.[45] Han's funeral scene was filmed at Oakland
Cemetery,[46] with extras needed for the scene
being "hot, hip and trendy cool types of all ethnicities between the ages
of 18 and 45".[47] On the evening of September 19, Lucas
Black joined
the production[48] for his sole scene with Diesel,
in an Atlanta parking garage. Separate scenes with Walker also shot in the same
location on the same night,[49] including one half of a phone
conversation between his character and Jordana Brewster's. The day after, Diesel posted
a picture from the night shoot with Black on his Facebook page.[50]
On October 24, over a month into the film's
production, Johnson tweeted he had started shooting for the film after wrapping
up on Hercules.[51] Five days later, Diesel posted
the first photo of Johnson on the set, in the hospital scene.[52]
On November 30, 2013, while on a break for the
Thanksgiving holiday, Walker, who portrayed Brian O'Conner, died in a single-vehicle
accident.[53][54] The next day, Universal announced
that production would continue after a delay that would allow the filmmakers to
rework the film.[55] On December 4, 2013, Universal
put production on hold indefinitely.[56] Wan later confirmed that the film
had not been cancelled.[57][58][59] On December 22, 2013, Diesel
announced on his Facebook page that the film would be released on April 10,
2015.[60] On February 27, 2014, The Hollywood Reporter reported that filming would
resume on April 1, and that the cast and crew had headed to Atlanta to prepare
for about eight more weeks of shooting.[61] Principal photography ended on July
10, 2014.[7]
Stunts[edit]
A 58-year-old Lockheed
C-130 Hercules[62] was used in the film to carry the
vehicles that would drop from 12,000 feet high, above the Sonoran
Desert, making
cars plummet at a speed of about 130 to 140 miles per hour.[63][64]
The "air drop" sequence was conceived by
stunt coordinator, Spiro Razatos, who also supervised on the franchise's two
previous installments; Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6.[65][66] Razatos told Business
Insider that he
wanted to rely more on real stunts rather than CGI because he wanted the whole
sequence to "feel real" and fulfill audience's expectations.[65] The stunt took months of
prep-solving problems. Cameras needed to be mounted onto cars in a way that
they would not be destroyed when the cars landed, and the crew had to figure
out a safe way to get the cars out of the plane. They performed a dry
runwith a
single car falling out of a plane[65] and did this six times.[66] Cars were dropped from a Lockheed
C-130 Hercules high
above the Arizona desert, but close up shots that show
the cars landing on a mountain road were filmed in Colorado.[66]There were two airplanes, flying
at a height of 12,000 feet, each dropping two cars apiece.[65] BRS
parachutes enabled
with GPS were secured to each of the cars before dropping off the C-130 plane.
At about 5,000 feet, the parachutes deployed.[66]Over 10 cameras were used for the
sequence. In addition to cameras on the ground, there were cameras remotely
operated inside the plane and another three mounted outside each car.
Additional cameras were on a helicopter, where Razatos was stationed watching monitors.
Three skydivers used in the shoot wore helmet cameras to help shoot the
sequence from multiple angles. Sky divers would either jump out before cars or
after them.[65] While all the cars landed on
their drop zones, 70% landed perfectly and 30% didn't.[66] For the close-up scenes which
shows the actors inside their cars, a giant gimbal with a 360-degree range of
movement were attached to each of the cars and was filmed against a green
screen to
reproduce their tumble through the sky.[67] The last part of the scene, which
shows the cars hitting the road was shot separately. To get that right, the
team set up a pully system that had cars six to ten feet above the ground. When
they were dropped from the cranes, the stuntmen who were sitting in the
driver's seats raced their engines at about 35 to 40 miles per hour and slid to
the ground at full speed. Those cranes were then later removed from the film
with computers.[66][67] Razatos admits that the air drop
sequence was "all real" and that it would be "hard to top".[65][66]
The scene featuring Brian jumping off a bus off a
cliff was performed by a stuntman and was all done without any computer
graphics.[68] The shooting for this particular
sequence along with the scene in which Dom and his team are pursuing to rescue
Ramsey almost didn't happen due to the absence of tax break in Colorado.[68] The studio originally wanted to
shoot the sequence in Georgia which provides tax breaks for
film productions, and then they'd add woods in the background later in post
production to which Razatos denied saying, "the audience is going to know
[it's CGI] and aren't going to feel good about it."[68] Shooting finally took place in
Colorado.[68]
A total of 340 cars were used in the film,[67] and more than 230 cars were
destroyed in the making of the film including several black Mercedes-Benz, a Ford Crown Victoria and aMitsubishi
Montero.[69] The mountain-highway chase scene
on Colorado's Monarch Pass proved to be the most damaging
sequence with over 40 vehicles being destroyed.[69][70]Only 10 percent of the action
sequences in the film were computer-generated, and even then, much of the CGI
was employed simply to erase the wires and other contraptions that were used to
film real cars and drivers or to add a background.[67] It took more than 3,500 man-days to complete the various stunts of
the film.[67] For safety reasons, stunt
coordinator, Joel Kramer said that he doesn't let his drivers go above 50 miles
per hour.[71]
Redevelopment of Walker's character[edit]
"When
I first heard the news, I was shell-shocked like everyone, and it took me days
to come to terms with it. And then after that, heartbreaks started sinking in
and we realised that Paul [Walker] wasn’t going to be around with us anymore
moving forward, and it was a really hard one. And finishing the movie was the
last thing on my mind at that point. It was more the idea of... picking up the
pieces, going back on set, rallying the team, the cast, and the crew, and as
the director, having to put on the brave face and champion and push everyone
along. The idea of that was very daunting for me, but it became very apparent
to all of us that we needed to finish this movie to honour Paul’s legacy and to
basically honour his memories... it was about making this movie for Paul."
—James Wan, director of Furious 7[72]
In January 2014, Time reported that Walker's character,
Brian O'Conner, would be retired instead of killed, and that new scenes would
be developed in order to allow the franchise to continue without him.[73] In March 2014, theDaily
News reported that the studio had hired four actors with
bodies similar to Walker's physique, and that his face and voice would be
computer-generated,[74] and in April 2014, Walker's
brothers Caleb and Cody, both of whom closely resemble him, were chosen as
stand-ins.[75] For scenes which required
re-creating Walker's face and body, the team hired Peter
Jackson's Weta
Digital (which
produced the imagery of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings franchise and Caesar in Dawn
of the Planet of the Apes). The final film includes a combination of CGI and
the use of carefully chosen camera angles and lighting using Walker's brothers
to simulate his appearance.[76]Robin Shenfield, CEO of London's
special effects studio, The Mill, noted that the redevelopment was similar to that
of Oliver Reed's when his character had to be redeveloped the same way as a result of
his death during filming of Gladiator.[77]
Music[edit]
Main
articles: Furious 7 (soundtrack) and Furious
7 (score)
The musical score was composed by Brian
Tyler, who
scored the third, fourth, and fifth installments of the series.[78] "There's an emotional
component to Fast & Furious 7 that is unique", said Tyler
about his experience scoring. "I think people are really going to be
amazed by it."[79] A soundtrack album to the film
was released by Atlantic Records on March 17, 2015.[80]
Songs featured in the film include:
·
"Go Hard
or Go Home" (Wiz
Khalifa & Iggy Azalea)[81]
·
"Ride Out" (Kid Ink, Tyga, Wale, YG & Rich
Homie Quan)[82]
·
"See You
Again"
(Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth)
·
"My
Angel" (Prince Royce)
·
"Hamdulillah"
(The Narcicyst feat. Shadia Mansour)
·
"Get Low" (Dillon
Francis and DJ Snake)
·
"Ay Vamos" (J Balvin feat. Nicky
Jam and French
Montana)
·
"Tempest" (Deftones)
Release[edit]
The film, which began principal photography in
September 2013, was originally designed as a Summer 2014 release. It was put on
hold following the fatal car crash that claimed Paul Walker's life on November
30, 2013. The production resumed in April 2014. In October 2014, Universal
revealed that the film was officially titled Furious 7,[83] and that the debut trailer would
be released during an interactive fan event over social media. In the days
leading up to the event, seven-second, behind-the-scenes videos were released,
titled "7 Seconds of 7".[83] On February 1, 2015, a new
trailer featuring all-new footage debuted during Super Bowl XLIX.
The film was originally scheduled for release on
April 10, 2015, but it was announced that the film's release date had been
brought forward a week to April 3, 2015. The official announcement in change of
date was made in July 2014.[84] Fast and Furious 7 premiered at the SXSW
Film Festival at
12:07 a.m. at Austin's Paramount Theatre on March 16, 2015.[85] On March 27, 2015, a free
standalone expansion for the video game Forza Horizon 2, titled Forza
Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious, was released to help promote the film.[86] For its global premiere at the TCL
Chinese Theatre in Los
Angeles on April
1, 2015, IMAX Corporation installed a new laser projection
which was the first such installation in the U.S. and the second worldwide,
following The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, which opened at Scotiabank
Theatre in Toronto in December 2014.[87]
Copyright infringement[edit]
According to infringement tracking site Excipio, the film was downloaded
illegally 2.59 million times in four days (April 2–6) through various torrent
sites with India being the top country for the illegal downloading with 578,000
downloads followed by Pakistan (321,000), China (289,000), the U.S. (251,000)
and the UK (101,000).[88] A survey revealed that most
Indians tended to resort to copyright violation due to lack of availability, pricing
concerns, soaring
internet costs and censorship.[89] It was illegally downloaded
44,794,877 times in 2015, making it the most pirated film of 2015 and the
second most pirated film in 2015, behind Interstellar which saw over 46.7 million
illegal downloads.[90]
Home media[edit]
Furious 7 was released on 7 September 2015
in the UK and was released via DVD and Blu-ray on September 15, 2015 in other
countries. The Blu-ray edition features an all new extended edition, deleted
scenes, stunts, behind-the-scenes, and the music video for Wiz
Khalifa and Charlie
Puth's "See You
Again".
The Blu-ray and DVD version include behind-the-scene footage of the "Race Wars" scene including rapper Iggy
Azalea and
making of the cars featured in the film.[91] In the U.S. and Canada, it sold
roughly 2.5 million units on Blu-ray and DVD in its first week of release,
making it the highest-selling home entertainment live-action film of 2015.[92] This record was later surpassed
by Jurassic World the following month,[93] which in turn was surpassed by Star
Wars: The Force Awakens by the end of the year.
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Furious 7 grossed $353 million in North
America and $1.16 billion in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.515
billion, against its $190 million budget.[6] Worldwide, it is thesixth
highest-grossing film of all time,[94] the third highest-grossing
film of 2015,[95] the highest-grossing film in The
Fast and the Furious franchise and is the second
highest-grossing Universal Pictures film.[96] It was also the fastest film to
reach the $1 billion mark at the time, doing so in 17 days;[97][98][99] It is also the 20th film to gross
over $1 billion. It also became the first film to pass 1 million in 4DX admissions worldwide.[100] Deadline.com calculated the net profit of the
film to be $354.03 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues
for the film.[101]
Worldwide, Furious 7 was released across 810 IMAX theaters,
which was the largest worldwide rollout in IMAX's history,[102][103] Its worldwide opening of $397.6
million is thefourth-highest opening of all time.[104] The film had an IMAX opening
weekend total of $20.8 million.[105] Furious 7 also became the first film
distributed by Universal Pictures to earn more than $1 billion in
its original run.
North America[edit]
Predictions for the opening weekend of Furious 7 in the United States and Canada
were continuously revised upwards, starting from $115 million to $150 million.[106][107] It opened on Friday, April 3,
2015, across 4,004 theaters, including 365 IMAX theaters, which made it the
widest opening for a Fast and Furious film and Universal's widest
opening release ever (until first surpassed by Jurassic World).[108][109][110] and earned $67.3 million, marking
the tenth-biggest opening day.[111][112] The film's Friday gross included
a $15.8 million late-night run (which began at 7 p.m.), from 3,069 theaters,
marking Universal's highest late-night run, of which $2.2 million came from IMAX showings, marking the third
largest IMAX preview gross ever.[113][114] Based on pure Friday gross (with
the omission of revenues from Thursday shows), it earned $51.5 million, marking
the fifth-biggest of all time.[115][116] Through Sunday, April 5, it had
an opening weekend total of $147.1 million, breaking the record for the biggest
April opening,[117] the biggest opening in theFast
& Furious franchise, the biggest Easter opening (the record
was broken a year later by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's opening gross of $170.1
million),[118] thethird-biggest
opening of 2015, the
third biggest pre-summer opening ever,[119] and the thirteenth-biggest
opening of all time.[120] It earned an IMAX opening weekend
total of $13.3 million, marking the second-biggest of all time for a 2D movie.[121][122] Premium large format comprised 8%
($11.5 million) of the total opening gross from 400 PLF screens, which is the
biggest 2D PLF opening.[123] It was Universal's fastest film
to reach the $200 million mark at the time, doing so in eight days.[124][125]
In its second weekend, the film expanded to 4,022
theaters, thereby breaking its own record of being the widest Universal
Pictures release ever, and earned an estimated $59.6 million, declining by 60%,
which is the third best second weekend holdover for a pre-summer film release.[126][127] It became the highest-grossing
film in the Fast & Furiousfranchise, doing so only in ten
days (the previous record which was held by Fast & Furious 6 took fifteen weeks to reach its
entire lifetime gross of $238.67 million).[126][128] It also set the record for the
biggest second-weekend April gross.[129] It topped the box office for four
consecutive weekends,[130] becoming the first film to top
the box office for four consecutive weekends since The
Hunger Games in March 2012 and one of only 29 films since 1985 to have had four
straight box office wins during their theatrical runs, although this highly
depends on many factors, including the release time and the competition around.[131][132] It ended its theatrical run on
July 24, 2015, playing in theaters for a total of 112 days[6] and became the thirty-first
highest-grossing film of all time,[133] the fifth highest-grossing film
of 2015,[134] the highest-grossing film in The Fast and the Furiousfranchise,[135] the second highest-grossing
Universal film of 2015 (behind Jurassic World),[136] and the fifth highest-grossing
film distributed by Universal.[136]
Outside North America[edit]
Outside the US and Canada, the film became the
third highest-grossing film,[137] the highest-grossing Universal
distributed film,[137] and the highest-grossing 2015
film.[138] On April 26, 2015, it became the
third film in cinematic history to earn over $1 billion overseas.[139] It opened on Wednesday, April 1,
2015, in 12 countries, earning $16.9 million (including previews from 22
countries).[140] It opened in 33 more countries on
Thursday, April 2, for a total of 45 countries, earning $43 million from 8,407
screens, marking Universal Pictures overseas' highest-grossing Thursday ever,
and for a two-day total of $60 million.[141] It added 20 more countries on
Friday, April 3, earning $59.2 million from 9,935 screens in 63 countries, for
a three-day total of $120.6 million.[142][143] The film set all-time opening-day
records in 15 countries including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, India,
Indonesia, the Middle East and Thailand,[141][144][145][146][147] and opening day records for
Universal Pictures in 40 countries including Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy
and Mexico.[142] Through Sunday, April 5, it
earned a 4-day opening weekend total of $250.4 million from 10,683 screens in
64 countries, which is the fourth-highest international opening ever, in all
which it reached first place at the box office[105][121][148][149] It earned an IMAX opening weekend
total of $7.5 million from 175 IMAX screens, breaking the record for the
biggest April IMAX gross, previously held by The Winter Soldier ($6.43 million).[105] It set opening weekend records in
29 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Malaysia,
Mexico, Middle East, Romania, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.[105][148] In its second weekend, it held
the top spot and fell gradually by 20.4% to $198.7 million (including China's
opening day gross) from 18,374 screens in 66 territories as a result of minor
competition, and remaining at number one in all 63 territories where it was
released the previous week. It added three new countries in its second weekend;
China, Russia and Poland.[150] Earning $167.9 million in its
third weekend, it topped the box office outside of North America for three
consecutive weekends,[151] until surpassed by Avengers:
Age of Ultron in its fourth weekend.[152]
The film was a massive box office hit in China. It
opened there on April 12 and set an all-time midnight run record with $8.05
million[150][153] and an opening day record with
$68.8 million.[150][154] Its opening day included a record
breaking $5 million from IMAX run (also breaking Transformers 4's former record of $3.4 million).[150] Through its opening week (April
12–19), it earned $245.9 million.[151][155] For the weekend alone, it took in
$88.7 million from 5,454 screens (Friday to Sunday) and $182.4 million (Monday
to Sunday) at the Chinese box office. It grossed CN¥1 billion in five days—the
fastest time in which that has been achieved—and immediately became the second
highest-grossing foreign film ever in China.[151][155][156] In 15 days, its gross in China
surpassed those in Canada and the United States[157] and became the first film in
China to make more than 2 billionrenminbi.[158] Its success has been credited to China
Film Group Corporation, the state-owned film distributor, which had invested considerably in
the film, reportedly taking a 10% stake.[159]
The largest openings outside North America and
China occurred in Mexico ($21.5 million), the UK, Ireland and Malta ($18.7
million), Germany ($15.9 million), Russia and the CIS ($15.9 million), Brazil
($11.4 million), France ($11.4 million), Australia ($11.3 million), Taiwan
($10.3 million), Argentina ($9.3 millon), Korea ($8.9 million), India ($8.7
million), Italy ($8.2 million), Malaysia ($7.3 million), Spain ($6.3 million),
Venezuela ($6 million), Thailand ($6 million), and Colombia ($5.2 million).[148][150] In the UAE, where parts of the
film was shot, it opened with $4.8 million.[148] Out of the 68 countries it was
released in, the only country not to open at number one was Japan (locally
released with the title, Wild Speed: Skymission) where it earned $6.2 million in
its opening weekend, behind Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' ($7.6 million).[151] and Detective Conan:
Sunflowers of Inferno($7.4 million).[160] It became the highest-grossing
film of all time in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Malaysia, South
Africa, the UAE, Uruguay, Trinidad and Vietnam and Universal Pictures'
highest-grossing film of all time in 29 countries including Argentina, China,
Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru,
Thailand, Turkey, UAE and Vietnam.[151] In Latin America, it became the
second highest-grossing film ($200 million), the first time Universal has
reached the milestone and the second film in history to earn more than $200
million after The Avengers.[161] In total earnings, the largest
countries outside the U.S. and Canada are China ($391.2 million), the UK,
Ireland and Malta ($60 million), Mexico ($50.9 million), Brazil, ($46.5
million) and Germany ($40.3 million).[162][163][164] It grossed a total of $39 million
in IMAX ticket sales in China, the biggest ever in the market.[165]
Critical response[edit]
Furious 7 received mostly positive reviews,
with critics praising the film's action sequences and its poignant tribute to
Walker. The review aggregator website Rotten
Tomatoesreported
an 81% approval rating, based on 217 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10.
The site's consensus reads, "Serving up a fresh round of over-the-top
thrills while adding unexpected dramatic heft, Furious 7 keeps the franchise moving in
more ways than one."[166] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized
rating, the film has a score of 67 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating
"generally favorable reviews".[167] In CinemaScore polls conducted during the
opening weekend, cinema audiences gave Furious 7 an average grade of "A"
on an A+ to F scale.[168]
The film received highly positive reviews upon
release at a secret screening at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival on March 16, 2015. Ramin Setoodeh
of Variety noted that fans started lining up outside four
hours before the film was scheduled to start. The film closed with a tribute to
Walker, which left many in the theater "holding back tears".[169] Critic Dave Palmer gave the film
7/10, saying, "Furious 7 is the type of movie Michael Bay
has spent his entire career trying to make: filled with shots of scantily clad
women, fast cars, and clever one liners".[170]
A.O. Scott of The New York Times gave the film two and a half
stars out of five and said, "Furious 7 extends its predecessors’
inclusive, stereotype-resistant ethic. Compared to almost any other
large-scale, big-studio enterprise, the Furious brand practices a slick,
no-big-deal multiculturalism, and nods to both feminism and domestic
traditionalism."[171]
John DeFore of The Hollywood
Reporter criticized
the film however, describing it as "stupidly diverting", saying the
running time was "overinflated"; he compared watching the film to a
morbid game, in addition to criticizing the screenplay.[172]
Accolades[edit]
|
Year
|
Award / Film Festival
|
Category
|
Recipient(s)
|
Result
|
Ref(s)
|
|
2015
|
2015 Teen Choice Awards
|
Choice Movie: Action/Adventure
|
Won
|
[173]
|
|
|
Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure
|
Vin Diesel
|
Nominated
|
|||
|
Paul Walker
|
Won
|
||||
|
Choice Movie Actress: Action/Adventure
|
Michelle Rodriguez
|
Nominated
|
|||
|
Jordana Brewster
|
Nominated
|
||||
|
2016
|
42nd People's Choice Awards
|
Favorite Movie
|
Furious 7
|
Won
|
[174]
|
|
Favorite Action Movie
|
Won
|
||||
|
Favorite Action Movie Actor
|
Vin Diesel
|
Nominated
|
|||
|
Favorite Action Movie Actress
|
Michelle Rodriguez
|
Nominated
|
|||
|
21st Critics' Choice Awards
|
Best Original Song
|
"See You Again"
|
Won
|
[175]
|
|
|
Best Action Movie
|
Furious 7
|
Nominated
|
|||
|
73rd Golden Globe Awards
|
Best Original Song
|
"See You Again"
|
Nominated
|
[176]
|
|
|
Houston Film Critics Society
|
Best Original Song
|
"See You Again"
|
Nominated
|
[177]
|
|
|
Screen Actors Guild Awards
|
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a
Motion Picture
|
Furious 7
|
Nominated
|
[178][179]
|
|
|
Las Vegas Film Critics Society
|
Best Original Song
|
"See You Again"
|
Won
|
[180]
|
|
|
MTV Movie Awards
|
Best Action Performance
|
Vin Diesel
|
Pending
|
[181]
|
|
|
Ensemble Cast
|
Furious 7
|
Pending
|
|||
|
Satellite Awards
|
Best Original Song
|
"See You Again"
|
Nominated
|
[182]
|
|
|
Saturn Award
|
Best Action or Adventure Film
|
Furious 7
|
Pending
|
[183]
|
|
|
Best Editing
|
Christian Wagner, Dylan Highsmith, Kirk Morri,
and Leigh Folsom Boyd
|
Pending
|
|||
|
Best DVD or Blu-ray Special
Edition Release
|
Furious 7 (Extended Edition)
|
Pending
|
|||
|
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics
Association
|
Best Original Song
|
"See You Again"
|
Runner-up
|
[184]
|
|
|
Visual Effects Society
|
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
|
Mike Wassel, Karen Murphy, Martin
Hill, Kevin
McIlwain, Dan Sudick
|
Nominated
|
[185]
|
Sequel[edit]
Main
article: Fast 8
Regarding a possible sequel, Vin Diesel said:
I was trying to keep it close to
the vest throughout the release. Paul Walker used to say that [an eighth film]
was guaranteed. And in some ways, when your brother guarantees something, you
sometimes feel like you have to make sure it comes to pass... so if fate has
it, then you’ll get this when you hear about it. [Furious 7] was for
Paul, [the eighth film] is from Paul.[186]
Diesel further hinted at an eighth film on Jimmy
Kimmel Live! when he stated that Kurt Russell's character had been introduced in a
role that would span multiple films. He also stated that the film would take
place in New York.[187][188] Chris Morgan will write his sixth
script in the franchise, while Neal H. Moritz will return to produce the film.
Moritz later stated, "[The story] is going to have to be something
enticing for all of us... it has to be as good as or better [than Furious 7]."[189] At the 2015 CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Diesel announced the film for
an April 14, 2017 release date.[190][191] On August 16, 2015, at the 2015
Teen Choice Awards (where Furious 7 received the award for Choice
Movie - Action and
Walker received the award for Choice Movie Actor - Action), Diesel announced
that the film would be titled Fast 8.[192] In September 2015, Diesel
expressed interest inRob Cohen, who directed the first film, to return to the franchise to
direct Fast 8,[193] revealing that the script had
almost been completed.[194] On October 14, 2015, Diesel
announced on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that Straight
Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray would direct the film.[195][196]