I am just as boggled. I had no idea there was such demand for this movie. Heck, I never even saw a single ad for it. Staying away from the TV will do that I suppose.
WTF?

My first thought when I saw the numbers was that it was a late April Fools joke. I guess not!

Teens and preteens are running the economy. If this movie had been rated R, no one would have seen it.

I guess that means we can expect a 5th film then. Maybe they will do something crazy, like a hybrid car chase :O

Has that ever happened in cinema; a car chase using alternative powered cars? Or does the mere prospect put people to sleep..

I'm guessing the next few in this series will be:

Fast, Furious
Fas/Fur
FF

and then we'll go back to "The Fast & The Furious" in a post-modern sort of way.

Combination of things:

1) Fast And Furious is the ultimate Baconator sandwich: pure fast food. Everyone eats a bacon cheezburgr if they could...

2) There was no other movie currently out there in the appropriate age bracket (13-35) to compete. "12 Rounds"? Please. If this FaF film were released in mid-May or late August, the numbers would be half that due to other action flicks taking up screen space and fan interest.

What is interesting is the total box office: the numbers for all top five in a non-summer month should indicate the recession isn't going to make a big dent on Hollywood.

I actually saw this on Thursday as part of a Subaru promotion here in Houston.

It was extremely dumb but enjoyable, which is exactly what I expected. Exactly what everyone in the theatre expected. Since I watched it with a group of street race-car enthusiasts, I feel like I enjoyed it alot more than I would have otherwise (when a particular car was revealed there were 'ooohs' and when it was destroyed there was a collective gasp - that sort of thing).

I would not have guessed 70+ mil though.

Two words: NAS. CAR.

I find at this time of year the American movie goer is desperate to see an action movie of sorts and usually whoever delievers a a big sequel or a movie with a lot of hype first benefits with a larger than expected box office opening. Last year that movie ended up being Iron Man which ended up making about 100 million more than most experts predicted prior to the movie's opening. This year it's Fast & Furious simply because its the original cast and people in general liked the first film. Is it that great of a movie, heck no, but when your action options for the past two months have been The International, Street Fight Chung Li, and 12 Rounds, this will do. It will probably happen again when Wolverine opens as long as the movie doesnt absolutley tank in reviews. People like cars, action and characters they already know. I guess this means Vin Disel is back?(shutters)

I can see it being at the top. I can see the comfort food in a recession factor--you know what's gonna happen, the original stars from the first movie are in it. I can even see the need to see a not-so-great movie where the cars go really fast. But $72.5 million? This just means there's gonna be another movie...how many of these movies do we need, anyway?

I'm as shocked and confused as you are, MaryAnn. Then again, if North America was a person, they'd never get to pick the movie whenever we went to the theatre. (But then, after North America complained that Watchmen was confusing and didn't have enough action, I've been seriously reconsidering going to the movies with her ever again.)

I saw it. Though I only did since my brother and I saw the FIRST movie and remembered really having a good time. Both of us chose to skip the first two movies, though we finally did get to see the SECOND movie on DVD a year or so ago.

So with that random nostalgic need to relive those happier-go-lucky days of our youth, we decided to check out this movie. Was it good? No. Was it enjoyable enough? Hell yeah. And really, sometimes that's all you could ask for.

And just as a related/unrelated point, the last few movies I have seen have been Coraline, Milk, and Synedoche, New York. Just saying.

I'm a 50+ woman and I'm not in the least 'boggled.'

Saw the big opening a very fast mile away, and why not?

There's nothing else playing. It is mindless, harmless entertainment. It's not slasher porn. It's not animated. It doesn't star Nicholas Cage. It stars cool cars and Vin Diesel (in that order).

'BIG', 'BOOM', 'FAST' - that's what big screens were made for.

Serious is what I have a DVD player for.

Increasingly, people don't seem to want movies with plot or characterizations. They're looking for theme park rides.

Iron Man was a little in this direction, but had good performances and witty dialog. I enjoyed it.

You couldn't pay me to see any of the F&F movies or any of the horror movies (or NASCAR, for that matter). I'm also a 50+ woman, and the movies I've liked best this year are both animated features - Coraline and Aliens vs. Monsters. It's been a terrible year for adult movies so far. And if F&F made that much money, we'll be stuck with more of that crap in the future.

Well, there are a lot of square states. No offense to those of you in said states. There are also a lot of stupid people.

Sadly I only went to see it because I was back home visiting my old college friends who have simpler tastes when it comes to movies. I was with a group of girls and really all they wanted to see was Vin Diesel shirtless. Apparently Vin Diesel's muscles are worth the price of a movie ticket to them. I should have made them pay for mine.