'Fast Five' Passes $100 Million in U.S. Box Office

The "Fast Five" box office has already sailed past $100 million in the United States. "Fast Five" just premiered on Friday, April 29, and has remained the No. 1 movie for all six days it has been in theaters. That could change when "Thor" is released by Marvel on Friday, but it shouldn't take away what the latest car chase film could make in its second weekend.

The box office totals (as reported by Box Office Mojo) have been pretty spectacular for the fifth film in the "Fast and Furious" franchise. By making just over $86 million in its first weekend, the film is set to make a quick profit for Universal. There wasn't a lot of competition in theaters, with two other films released for a younger audience ("Prom" and "Hoodwinked Too!"). Holdovers "Rio" and "Madea's Big Happy Family" still did well, but it wasn't even close for the weekend title.

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker once again proved that they are bankable stars when combined in these films, but it's hard to fathom that producers would try to put together a sixth film with this cast. There just isn't anywhere for the story to really go, and by upping the ante with so many supporting characters in the fifth movie, another one could just be a huge letdown. Studios have done odder things in the past, though, so don't put it beyond Universal to open up the vault and pay for another script.

Box Office Mojo also reported that "Fast Five" pulled in more than $100 million in foreign box office receipts as well, showing that this series has a lot of reach around the world. With an estimated budget of $125 million, Universal is already turning a very nice profit. By any true measure of films, this one is a huge success, even if some critics didn't find it as appealing. That won't stop big budget action films from getting made, and hasn't dissuaded audiences in the past.

It's interesting to note that "Thor" will debut in America after it has already been presented in foreign markets, but that might make it easier to project success here. The film made just over $124 million in the foreign box office coming into Thursday, which bodes well for its U.S. debut. It also sets up a great battle in theaters that will be showing both "Thor" and "Fast Five" this weekend.

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