Universal Pictures kicked off the blockbuster season this past Friday with the release of Furious 7 (or Fast & Furious 7, as it is called here in the UK), enjoying a staggering global box office bow in the process.
Launching the James Wan-directed sequel into 14,009 cinemas across 63 markets, the film pulled in a whopping $384 million opening weekend, giving it the fourth-largest debut in history after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ($483.2 million), The Avengers ($392.5 million) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394.4 million).
SEE ALSO: Read our reviews of Fast & Furious 7 here, here and here
With $143.6 million from the States and $240.4 million internationally, Furious 7 has comfortably claimed the highest-ever April debut, and with major markets such as China, Russia and Japan still to come and little competition until Avengers: Age of Ultron at the end of the month, it looks like the latest chapter of the high-octane action series will become the first to hit a billion at the global box office.
