"Furious 7" sets box-office records after officially becoming China's highest-grossing film of all time. (Photo : Reuters)
The phenomenal "Furious 7" is now China's highest-grossing film of all time after pulling in a total of 2 billion yuan 15 days after its release.
The title was previously held by the Michael Bay film "Transformers: Age of Extinction," which raked in 1.98 billion yuan.
The seventh installment of the "Fast and Furious" franchise is also the first film title to reach the 2-billion-yuan mark in the country.
According to Movie Box Office, China's biggest movie industry tracking group, the film's North American box-office gross is currently estimated at nearly 2 billion yuan. "Furious 7" was released a week earlier in the U.S.
After "Transformers: Age of Extinction," the car-racing action movie was also the second Hollywood film to have earned more in China than in the U.S.
"Furious 7," directed by James Wan of Malaysian-Chinese descent, has also previously broke records for earning the highest midnight box-office sales (50.94 million yuan) and both opening and single day sales (410 million yuan) in the country.
According to film industry experts, Paul Walker's death has significantly contributed to the movie's success. Walker died in a car accident while filming in Nov. 2013.
Universal has recently announced that the eighth edition of the film is set to be released on April 14, 2017. Reports have surfaced that the movie will have scenes shot in Hong Kong.
Box Office Mojo reported that "Furious 7" has landed on the number 5 spot in the all-time worldwide box-office sales, raking in $1.32 billion. The film is the recent addition to the list of movies that reached the said milestone ("Titanic" and "Avatar").
The film sees no big-time rivals yet until the May 12 release of another Hollywood blockbuster, "Avengers: Age of Ultron."
