'Furious 7' Races To New Record, Quickly Hitting $1 Billion Mark

By Bill Chappell / NPR

Published April 18, 2015 at 8:50 AM PDT

This story was published more than 9 years ago.

Furious 7 has hit the $1 billion worldwide box-office mark, two days faster any other film. Earlier this month, stars Sung Kang, left, and Ludacris attend the film's Los Angeles premiere. — *Furious 7* has hit the $1 billion worldwide box-office mark, two days faster any other film. Earlier this month, stars Sung Kang, left, and Ludacris attend the film's Los Angeles premiere.

It's taken the street-racing movie Furious 7 only 17 days to reach $1 billion in worldwide box office grosses, according to Universal Pictures. On its opening weekend, the movie reportedly made $143.6 million in the U.S. It's the last in the Fast and Furious franchise to feature the late actor Paul Walker.

Universal says the movie is the studio's first to cross the billion-dollar mark during its first run in theaters, putting Furious 7 above films such as Jurassic Park, Despicable Me and the Jason Bourne movies.

Universal says the Fast and Furious franchise has now earned $3.39 billion worldwide.

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This week, star Vin Diesel, a mainstay of the franchise, predicted that there would be an eight installment in the franchise.

If you're wondering what the other fast-grossing films are, the Slash Film blog notes:

"Before Furious 7, the fastest climb to $1 billion was 19 days, set by Avatar (2009) and tied by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) and The Avengers (2012). It might have a hard time keeping that record with Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: The Force Awakens on the horizon, but it's an impressive achievement nonetheless."