Box-Office Milestone: 'Furious 7' Blasts Past $500M

The final film from the late Paul Walker is doing record-breaking business.

In less than a week, Universal's Furious 7 has zoomed past the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office.

The final film from the late Paul Walker reached the milestone Wednesday as its cume grew to $183.7 domestically and $343.1 million internationally for a total $526.8 million.

And Furious 7 is poised to soon eclipse fellow Universal box-office hit Fifty Shades of Grey to become the top release of 2015 to date. Fifty Shades' current global total is $566.1 million.

In North America, it could take in as much as $60 million this weekend, easily trouncing the only new nationwide entry, The Longest Ride. From Fox 2000 and based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, Longest Ride is pacing to open in the $12 million range.

Furious 7 began rolling out April 1 in a handful of territories before playing nearly everywhere by April 3, save for major markets China, Russia and Japan. In North America, it opened to a record-breaking $147.2 million while overseas it pulled in $245.1 million for a massive worldwide launch of $392.3 million, the fourth best of all time behind the final Harry Potter film ($483.2 million), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394.4 million) and The Avengers ($392.5 million).

And it scored the No. 3 international opening of all time behind the final Potter film ($314 million) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($260.4 million), even without China, where it rolls out April 12. Furious 7 came in No. 1 in every territory, led by Mexico ($21.5 million), U.K. ($18.7 million), Germany ($15.9 million), France ($11.4 million), Brazil ($11.4 million), Australia ($11.3 million) and Taiwan ($10.3 million).

The desire to see Walker one last time is no doubt contributing greatly to Furious 7's stunning performance. Universal intended to open the seventh Fast and Furious installment on July 11, 2014, but production was halted in November 2013 when Walker died in a tragic car crash during a Thanksgiving hiatus.