Fearless Forecast - 'Fast & Furious' & Profitable

So can Fast & Furious light a fire under a moribund franchise and give it enough life to continue in the future? If you listen to star Paul walker, the studio wants a fifth movie. So how does it get there? A big number this weekend. So then the questions become how big is the number it needs to hit and how big is the number it will hit? The answer to each is the same - between $35 and $40 million. Does that seem too hight? Really? Well, keep in mind that there hasn't been a movie aimed at dudes in their early- to mid-20s since, what, maybe Watchmen? Couple that with a real lack of competition in theaters this weekend, and that the only other movie set to make any money at all is aimed at kids and families, and that Fast & Furious will be in a ton of theaters, and it's almost a cake walk to $25 million. What puts it in overdrive is a history of decent to good opening weeekends in the series and the return of the original stars. So if it falls short of, say, $30 million - given that this won't be a movie that sustains its audience over three or four weeks - it would have to be considered something of a let down over at Universal. The Top Five:
1 - Fast & Furious - $36.5 million
2 - Monsters vs. Aliens - $28 million
3 - The Haunting in Connecticut - $10 million
4 - Adventureland - $7.5 million
5 - I Love You, Man - $7 million