Furious 7 represents the perfect recipe of a box office record setter, carrying behind the history of all other Fast and Furious pictures and the legacy of Paul Walker. Although summer is almost here, the month of April and Furious 7 represent a massive milestone in the box office yearbook: Furious 7 is the first $1 billion worldwide hit of the year. What is more, Pro.boxoffice underlines that the Paul Walker tribute film is not only a record of the year, but also an all-time record-breaker, as declares ‘’It only took 17 days for Furious 7 (…) the fastest any film has ever taken to reach that mark’’.
It was probably Paul Walker’s sudden and unfortunate death in November 2013 and his passion towards racing the ones which brought such an immense number of fans in theaters in order to honor him and his work. Vin Diesel’s fame and devotion to the memory of his late colleague and friend can be catalogued as decisive terms as well. No matter the reasons, that Furious 7 is a box office record breaker is an indisputable matter and that honorable position reflects in some categories. The greater proof in that regard is a blog entry by Ron Meyer, Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal, posted on 17 April 2015.
Ron Meyer is assertive and festive, as announces the theme of his written speech: ‘’Today Marks a Significant Milestone in Our History.’’ And it is indeed official, Furious 7 broke yet another box office record, becoming Universal’s all-time box office pride and lead: ‘’Today FURIOUS 7 will reach $1 billion in worldwide box office grosses. This is the first time in Universal’s 103-year history that we have had a film achieve this level of success in its first run. It will certainly exceed this number as well as have the distinction of being the quickest of any film to reach this milestone in just 17 days.’’
Later on, Mayer uses the example of Universal’s box office leads in order to help emphasize the impact of Furious 7. ‘’At Universal we have had franchises with strong results at the box office, including JURASSIC PARK, DESPICABLE ME and the BOURNE series, and although we take great pride in these accomplishments, what distinguishes FAST & FURIOUS is that it is an original live action concept with an entirely diverse cast. It is the only franchise of its kind to reach a total of MORE THAN $3.39 billion and counting.’’
In his last paragraph, Ron Meyer speaks about the significance of a team in the delivery of a project and how their dealing with the death of their dear colleague and friend Paul Walker highly influenced the current box office status of Furious 7: ‘’On behalf of all of us, I am incredibly proud of the motion picture team at Universal, the cast and filmmakers of the FAST & FURIOUS for all they have done to take our original idea and evolve it into a huge, global, blockbuster franchise. When our friend and colleague Paul Walker tragically passed away in the middle of production, our team, led by Jeff Shell and Donna Langley, and the filmmakers along with the cast and crew did what they do best: They focused on family first; then talked to the fans; then got to work on making a great film that we can all be proud of. We were all saddened and honored to be a part of Paul’s final career performance and to celebrate his defining role in our lives.’’