‘Furious 7’ Breaks Home Entertainment Records

“Furious 7” is burning rubber at the home entertainment market.
The latest, adrenalized installment in the fast cars and hard-driving criminals series is the highest-grossing live action film of 2015 when it comes to DVD, Blu-ray and digital sales. Since debuting on Sept. 15, the film has generated $52.5 million in consumer spending across both physical and digital formats. It sold roughly 2.5 million units on Blu-ray and DVD in its first week of release. 

It ranks as the franchise’s top-selling release to date and is on pace to be Universal’s highest-grossing live-action home entertainment release in its history. The film, which was nearly derailed when the death of star Paul Walker necessitated production delays and the use of body doubles and digital trickery, was a box office phenomenon. It ranks as the fifth highest-grossing film of all time, with $1.5 billion in receipts. 

The success of “Furious 7” is also good news for the movie business. The growth of digital sales andrentals has only partially filled the hole left by the collapse of the DVD market, but the strong reception for “Furious 7” demonstrates that it’s still possible to have a home entertainment hit. 

In addition to Walker, “Furious 7” stars Vin Diesel, Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson. An eighth film is scheduled to hit theaters on April 14, 2017.

- variety.com -