The Fast & Furious Series

This past weekend, the Fast and Furious movie series had a very successful opening-bringing in $147,187,040 domestically, crushing any other movie currently playing. The successful series introduced its seventh movie called Furious 7. Compared to the previous two movies of the series, where Fast Five earned $86,198,765 its opening weekend and Fast & Furious 6 earning $97,375,245, the seventh of the series is looking like it will be the most successful yet.

Compared to several other movie sequels, the Fast & Furious series has something very rare going here. It's amazing that after this many sequels and new plot twists, the fans have stayed by the franchise's side. Take Grease for example, the sequel-Grease 2, had a revenue that was half of the original (which was made 4 years earlier). Even though the Grease sequel saw a monetary drop in the second movie, it's understandable why they would make the second movie after the success of the first.

Another movie series to consider is the Pirates of the Caribbean. It has now produced four movies and is planning to release its fifth in 2017. While the opening weekend numbers had a significant rise from the first movie to the second and third, the fourth saw a noticeable drop. It will be interesting to see how well the next of the series will do and if the producers will continue to create movies for that series.

One theory to why Furious 7 gained so much more popularity was because of the passing of one of the main characters-Brian, played by Paul Walker. The movie was originally scheduled to release in the summer of 2014, but had to postpone due to the tragedy-as they were still filming scenes when Paul passed. This also led to a different ending to the movie- which may have sparked some curiosity. I myself have not gone to see Furious 7 yet but from what the critics are saying, the movie did a great job of honoring Brian (Paul Walker) and gave a very natural and sincere end to his story.

The big question surrounding this seventh release is if the series will continue onto Fast & Furious 8. If the numbers were talking-a sequel would be a no-brainer, but the series may choose to end with the tribute to the dear cast member. On the contrary, after the interview Vin Diesel had on Jimmy Kimmel, he made many spoiler comments, hinting towards an eighth movie. There are many ways the movie series could spin the story to create the next movie and nearly all of the main cast members have signed a contract that lasts for another three movies- so any Fast & Furious fans out there should be optimistic for the continuation of the multi-billion dollar series.


Have you gone to Furious 7 yet? What did you think?

8 Things that Movies Have Taught Us

1. To Love

I'm sure everybody reading this has seen one or two lovey-dovey movies before. I'll admit that there are some super cheesy ones that make us all gag, but let's face it, there are some that just make our hearts grow ten sizes bigger and make us dream about the love of our life.

2. To Laugh

It doesn't matter what kind of movie I'm watching, if the actors in a movie start laughing, I can't help but laugh with them. Not to mention the entire collection of "comedy" labeled movies, that usually get us giggling at least a couple times in a movie. Movies that I watch over and over again because they make me laugh every time, include; 21 Jump Street, Bridesmaids, Forrest Gump and Billy Madison (just to name a few).



3. To Never Take Things for Granted

We've watched countless characters in movies miss an opportunity and have the worst happen to them. Even though it can be pretty predictable at times, it's what creates the story line or mission of that character for the rest of the movie. Take the movie The Change Up for example: the movie starts off giving you a look at each man's life, the characters get switched with some magical power of a fountain and the rest of the movie they find out how much they truly love their life. (If you haven't seen it yet-it's pretty hilarious, so I recommend you check it out!) Then the rest of that day we start to notice all of the little things in our own lives that we may have otherwise ignored.

4. To Cry

We've all been there. We sit down to watch an awesome movie and by the end, we look like we just went to a funeral. I remember the first time that I watched Marley & Me was in a movie theater and I don't think one person walked out of the theater tear free. Most people will say that they hate movies like this but I know that they secretly love it.  For a lot of couples, the first time they witness one another crying is during a movie (and let's face it, if you're an ugly crier like me, once they've seen you like that-you've got nothing to worry about).

5. To Cook

Nearly every movie out there has a moment where you watch the character(s) eat food (there may be a few exceptions but those are very rare to find.) The reason it's in almost every movie is pretty obvious-humans love food. What makes the food-eating scene even better is when we watch the character prepare the food. Every time I watch Spider-Man 3, (you know the better version with Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco) and the scene of Harry and Mary Jane making an omelette comes up-I get super hungry for an omelette-(which leads to me cooking one). An even better example is the movie Julie & Julia, which is about a women creating every recipe in a cook book. I'm guessing that movie inspired quite a few people to cook supper for their families that night.

6. To Date

How many dates have we witnessed in the romantic comedy realm? I think you'll agree with me when I say, A LOT. Whether they showed us how to dress for the occasion, what type of restaurant to go to or how many dates to wait before the first kiss, we've learned a great deal from movies. The lessons may not always the right ones but movies definitely give us some tools for the dating game.

7. To be "Bad to the Bone"

The genre that is notorious for making the actors look "bad to the bone" is war/action films. A great example would be Terminator 2, when Arnold Schwarzenegger grabs the guy's gun and sunglasses and rides off on his motorcycle. Although it's more prominent in these movies, I can remember a great "bad to the bone" moment in The Parent Trap. The scene when Hallie walks into the cabin and the girls have an intense poker match. It always makes me want to go drink straight out of the milk carton or something. There may be a small coincidence that the song "Bad to the Bone" is playing during both of these movie scene examples :).

8. How to have Fun

Most movies that get the term "feel good" put behind their title, usually have a moment where we watch the characters just have a blast with each other. Whether it's a sleepover in a chick flick, a dance party in a romantic comedy or a drink at the bar in a war film, we just love to watch the characters have fun. One really good example is the movie Matilda, when she's dancing in her living room and moving all of the objects in the room with her "powers." Whenever I hear the song "Little Bitty Pretty One" by Bobby Day & The Satellites, I immediately think of that movie.