![IMAX China CEO Chen Jiande speaks at the Furious 7 China premiere in Beijing on April 12, 2015. [China.org.cn]](U472P886T1D161519F12DT20150413134740.jpg "IMAX China CEO Chen Jiande speaks at the Furious 7 China premiere in Beijing on April 12, 2015. [China.org.cn]")
IMAX China CEO Chen Jiande speaks at the "Furious 7" China premiere in Beijing on April 12, 2015. [China.org.cn]
The car-racing action movie "Furious 7" has smashed all opening records at the box office in China in a single day with a stunning US$66.04 million debut, according to Chinese tracking agencies.
The film, directed by James Wan -- an Australian film director of Malaysian Chinese descent -- , opened at midnight on Saturday (0:00 a.m Sunday) in China, and first set new and highest midnight box office record ever in China by raking 50.94 million yuan (US$8.2 million), Douban.com reported.
The previous record holder was "Transformers: Age of Extinction" by Michael Bay, which took 21 million yuan (US$3.38 million) from midnight showings in China in 2014. But "Furious 7" has made more than double that.
As Sunday dawned, the box office went even crazier and all the Chinese theaters were packed with people. The initial box office estimate on Sunday night for the film was 410 million yuan (US$66.04 million), breaking the opening day record and single day record in the Chinese film history, as the previous record holder was "Transformers 4" again which once made 223 million yuan (US$35.92 million) on a Saturday.
"Transformers: Age of Extinction," the highest grossing film ever in China eventually settled with 1.98 billion yuan (US$318.9 million) in China. Industry insiders predicted "Furious 7" might also break that total gross record if the trend continues.
IMAX Corporation and Wanda Cinema also held a Beijing CBD premiere at Wanda Plaza for the IMAX version of "Furious 7," borrowing six top race cars from Lucky Seven Club and other Chinese race car owners, which have appeared in the film, including a McLaren 12C, Aston Martin Vantage, Ferrari 458 Italia, Maserati Ghibli, Audi R8 and Nissan GT-R R35.
IMAX China CEO Chen Jiande said: "'Furious 7' is one of the most anticipated films for 2015. The many beyond-limit car-racing scenes indicate the top production of the world film industry, as do the special effects, which were enhanced by IMAX technologies and screen. The box office results will be phenomenal and this is also thanks to Paul Walker, who made this film the most touching installment of the franchise."
Walker died on Nov. 30, 2013 in a car accident, and he hadn't finished filming for "Furious 7" when he died. Several scenes were computer-generated with the help of Weta Digital, four similar-looking actors and Walker's brothers Caleb and Cody as stand-ins. The last five minutes are a touching tribute to Walker, and his character, Brian O'Conner, retires instead of getting killed in the film.
Film industry insiders in China said the sentiment for Walker's death has also contributed hugely to the record-breaking box office gross.
Another box office tracking website Box Office Mojo put its China debut day estimate at US$68.6 million, which is even higher than the film's opening day gross in the United States, where the film collected US$67.4 million and went on to debut US$147.2 million during the U.S. three-day weekend.
The new single day record set by "Furious 7" in China essentially equals to what the last movie of the franchise made in its entire run in the world's second largest film market.
With an estimated US$60.6 million, "Furious 7" also easily held on to first place at the U.S. box office. Over 12 days, "Furious 7" has earned a stunning US$548 million overseas. Including the U.S. takings, the movie has already grossed US$800 million worldwide.
