LOS ANGELES — A tuned up “Fast & Furious” zoomed to No. 1 at the weekend box office, selling an unexpectedly strong $72.5 million in tickets in North American theaters.
The result — more summer than spring, which is typically a quiet moviegoing period — reignites a film franchise that had been dismissed by Hollywood, if not Universal Pictures, after a disappointing third installment in 2006. That movie, “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” stalled after selling just $62.5 million at domestic theaters, less than half the total of each of its two predecessors, “The Fast and the Furious” and “2 Fast 2 Furious.”
But Universal and its financing partner, Relativity Media, decided to place another bet on the street-racing franchise. Research showed that audiences were still keenly interested in Vin Diesel, who moved on after headlining the original “The Fast and the Furious.” If it could get other members of the original cast to return, Universal figured moviegoers would turn out for a fourth movie — and bring their kids.
“I’m euphoric that our production team had the foresight to do this even though people snickered,” said Nikki Rocco, president of Universal Pictures distribution. “We saw an opening for a big action movie in April and decided to bite the bullet.”