Jordan Peele's "Get Out" is the most profitable title of the year; F. Gary Gray's "The Fate of the Furious" earned over $1 billion worldwide.

You have to savor the irony: African Americans comprise a tiny portion of film directors; we all know the argument that black movies don’t play overseas. And in F. Gary Gray’s “The Fate of the Furious,” we now we have the first billion-dollar movie from a black director…and it was driven overwhelmingly by the overseas gross.

READ MORE: The 33 Highest-Grossing Movies Directed By Black Filmmakers

While Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” will be the most profitable title of the year, “The Fate of the Furious” just made F. Gary Gray the first African American to join an even more elite rank: He directed a film that’s earned over $1 billion worldwide.

John Farr/SI/REX/Shutterstock

The eighth entry in the “Furious” franchise currently stands at about $1.2 billion, with more than 80% of that business outside North America — making this the unusual (and welcome) case of a black director’s film making the bulk of its money outside the U.S.

READ MORE: Why Sidney Poitier’s ‘Stir Crazy’ Is Still the Most Successful Movie Ever Made By a Black Director

That’s a stark contrast with, say, Tyler Perry, whose films have made over $953 million but whose entire career has seen just $8 million in overseas box office. (Most of his films weren’t released outside North America.)

2017 The Fate of the Furious*

Domestic: $209,207,090 Foreign: $957,283,449 Total:$1,166,490,539

2015 Straight Outta Compton

Domestic: $161,197,785 Foreign: $40,437,206 Total: $201,634,991

2009 Law Abiding Citizen

Domestic: $73,357,727 Foreign: $53,332,999 Total: $126,690,726

2005 Be Cool

Domestic: $56,046,979 Foreign: $39,179,137 Total: $95,226,116

2003 The Italian Job

Domestic: $106,128,601 Foreign: $69,941,570 Total: $176,070,171

2003 A Man Apart

Domestic: $26,736,098 Foreign: $17,614,828 Total: $44,350,926

1998 The Negotiator

Domestic: $44,547,681 Foreign: $4,400,000 Total: $48,947,681



1996 Set It Off

Domestic: $36,461,139 Foreign: $5,129,747 Total: $41,590,886

1995 Friday

Domestic: $27,467,564 Foreign: $748,354 Total: $28,215,918



(“The Fate of the Furious” is still in release. All numbers are unadjusted. Source: Box Office Mojo)

So far, Gray’s worldwide career gross stands around $1.93 billion; that’s enough to establish him as the most successful black director of all time, but we look forward to seeing it cross an even $2 billion. Well played, sir.

For more about the most successful black directors, check out The 33 Highest-Grossing Movies Directed By Black Filmmakers and a look at the enduring box office power of the 37-year-old “Stir Crazy.”

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