Was Fast X's box office total enough to turn a profit and become a success, or was it just a disappointing flop? New data may have revealed the truth.
Fast X was introduced to the world as the penultimate movie in Vin Diesel's Fast & Furious saga, with the story supposedly set to conclude in the movie's second part, which has even been hinted to potentially follow into a third.
The movie delivered plenty of huge action set pieces on a massive record-breaking budget and with a familiarly huge ensemble of Fast & Furious mainstays, rendering it rather expensive, and possibly even not that profitable.
Fast X's Box Office Reveals Whether Movie Succeeded
According to a report from The Wrap, the record-breaking budget for Fast X was significantly higher than the $200 million previously reported with an eventual production allowance of $340 million, which doesn't even include the additional costs required in marketing.
The report estimated the movie would need to make $800-850 million theatrically to turn any profit, which Fast X has failed to come anywhere near with a worldwide total of $704.71 million.
Fast X notably grossed most of its box office revenue in international territories, with only $145.96 million domestically compared to $558.75 internationally. As studios take home less of a share of overseas gross, this isn't great news for Universal and how much it will earn from the movie.
Fast & Furious movies have never been cheap to make, with even the franchise's highest-grossing movie, Furious 7, only turning a $354 million profit on a $1.5 billion box office gross, according to Deadline, so it's no surprise the $700 million-grossing Fast X would come out as a loss.
When all is said and done, The Wrap's estimates appear to indicate Fast X could lose Universal as much as $100-150 million, unless it can make up for its theatrical struggles with a successful home release.
How Will Fast X's Failure Hurt Fast & Furious 11?
The Wrap's original report on Fast X's massive budget claimed the increased budget on F9's $200-225 million came due to increased salaries for the cast, higher production costs due to inflation, and additional charges for COVID-19 testing due to safety protocols imposed on the production.
Neither the franchise's next mainline movie, Fast X Part 2, nor the new spin-off movie for Dwayne Johnson's Hobbs has begun production yet. Although writing work on the scripts for both Fast & Furious movies was seemingly already underway before the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike started in May.
As the writers' and actors' strikes have shown no signs of ending anytime soon, Universal will have plenty of time to review the successes and failures of Fast X to determine how best to proceed with the franchise in a profitable way.
For one, the studio will likely be looking to make serious budget cutbacks for the next movie in order to make it easier to turn a profit. With the interest in Fast & Furious seemingly not what it used to be, the latest failure only makes it more certain the follow-up to Fast X will end up being the final outing as once planned.
Fast X is available now for digital and physical purchases, while the Peacock streaming release is still taking a while.
