Fast X Opens Big at Global Box Office

The latest chapter in the Fast Saga may have delivered a lower domestic box office debut than some had expected, the new installment got off to a speedy start around the globe. Fast X opened to around $67 million here in North America, which is just a fraction of the film’s worldwide haul. Throughout the other 84 markets where it debuted this weekend, Fast X earned a whopping $251.4 million.

When you combine the two to get the overall global total, Fast X has earned around $319 million over its first few days. That international take is good enough for the second in the franchise’s long and storied history. Only The Fate of the Furious had a bigger international launch for any Fast and Furious film.

Overall, Fast X now has the second-biggest global opening for any film in 2023 so far. Only has had a bigger worldwide debut. 

Bringing Back Fast Five

One major part of the marketing campaign for Fast X involved tying it back to the events of Fast Five, providing an origin for the villainous Dante (Jason Momoa). The film uses footage from Fast Five as well as some deleted shots from the film, and eventually adding in Dante’s perspective.

“Since we had to Rashomon that Fast Five scene, it was completely essential that we looked at all the dailies, and that’s what we did. Universal Studios has an amazing archival department, and so we dug it all out and looked at everything,” director Louis Leterrier told The Hollywood Reporter. “Our movie was shot digitally, because most movies are shot digitally now, but Fast Five was shot on 35 mm. So we transferred all the footage and realized afterwards what unused footage that we could use and tweak.”

He continued, “So we put our characters into pre-existing footage through motion control and CG, and then we also shot new bits with the same film stock and cameras as Fast Five. Stephen Windon was our DP, and he has shot most of the Fast movies since [Fast & Furious (2009)]. So he also shot Fast Five, and he remembered exactly what he did and what his light meter read back then. So it looks and feels seamless. You cannot really tell what’s new and what’s old, because every shot is a hybrid.” 

Fast X is now playing in theaters everywhere.