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We are prophets. Of course we expected this.

Kim Hollis: Fast & Furious set the April opening weekend record and became Universal's biggest non-holiday opening ever with $72.5 million. On a scale of "I totally expected this" to "I hope I wake up from this nightmare soon", how surprised are you by this result?

David Mumpower: Early reports on Friday had this earning somewhere around $20 million, which is about what I expected. Overnight, those projections kept going up to the point that it was at $30.1 million in the end. I had projected the film to do somewhere in the upper $40 million range, which would have been a fine result for a franchise whose last outing debuted to $24 million. An opening total that surpasses the ENTIRE DOMESTIC RUN of Fast and the Furious: Toykyo Drift by almost $10 million is about as stunned as I can be by a box office result. What is particularly troubling for me is that I can almost always identify the rationale behind such a performance. A $72 million opening for what I had presumed to be a dying franchise - and I absolutely hate having to admit this - is something I cannot explain. It's almost as if there was collective hypnosis used across the globe (it's a blockbuster overseas as well) to make people forget that the second and third films happened, making them instead believe that they have been anxiously awaiting this sequel since 2001. It defies logic that this, the fourth outing of a tired format, would be the one that breaks out to this degree.

Les Winan: Never underestimate the stupidity of the American people.

Tim Briody: To steal something that Reagen said over the weekend: WTF, America?

David Mumpower: Apparently, people want more driving with their bromance.





Brandon Scott: Everybody, everything I read had it pegged in the $40 millions somewhere, so yeah, it's the talk of the town here in LA. I would like to say I am shocked, so here goes, "I...Am...shock..." I just can't bring myself to complete it. This is the same America where this franchise is in its fourth installment. This is the same America that made Paul Walker, aka Keanu Reeves Jr., a star (I guess). This is the same America where Tyler Perry opens well and Paul Blart has defied expectations. So, I am....highly surprised by the figure, but not shocked.

Josh Spiegel: Before I went to the theaters Friday night to see Adventureland (I was one of the few, it seems), I'd have been very surprised to see this figure, but once I saw the lines of people for Fast & Furious, coupled with the people outside running - yes, running - to get to the show on time, I kind of expected an astronomic figure. I'm sure it helps that the original cast is back, but those trailers were so well-edited, I even considered seeing it. I was able to hold myself back, but the simple nature of just showing various scenes, sans music, probably got people more psyched.

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