weekend box office

Fast Five’s $83 Million Opening Breaks Records

In a stunning upset, Fast Five, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker’s fifth film in the esteemed The Fast and the Furious series, earned $83.6 million during its debut weekend. That number hands Fast Five the record for Universal’s best opening ever, and 2011’s largest opening thus far. “The 2011 box office slump is now officially history,” Deadline declared. Universal chairman Adam Fogelson attributes Fast Five’s success to its quality as a motion picture: “There is no reason for the 5th movie in a franchise to have pulled off what this pulled off,” he said. Expect Fast Six to get fast-tracked now. Meanwhile, Rio, the animated film that topped the box office for two weeks in a row before Fast Five arrived, landed in second this weekend, earning another $14.4 million and bumping its cumulative earnings to $103.6 million. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family came in third, making $10 million and bumping its cumulative earnings to $41 million. Water for Elephants came in fifth, earning $9.1 million and bumping its cumulative earnings to $32.2 million. And Prom, Disney’s first film under Rich Ross, earned only $5 million, in fifth place, during its debut weekend. [Box Office Mojo]

Fast Five’s $83 Million Opening Breaks Records