While Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day dominated headlines and box office charts this past weekend, another film quietly made a powerful statement. The Furious, a martial arts action thriller, opened to a furious $15 million worldwide, proving that word-of-mouth and critical acclaim can still drive a movie's success without a massive marketing budget or A-list stars.
Premiering at last year's Toronto International Film Festival alongside Obsession, The Furious was quickly picked up for domestic distribution by Lionsgate. The studio is currently riding high on the success of Michael, a music biopic that has grossed around $935 million globally, and is preparing for the release of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Yet Lionsgate continues to invest in genre fare like The Furious, directed by Kenji Tanigaki and starring Xie Miao and Joe Taslim.
Pre-release buzz compared the film to action hits such as John Wick and The Raid, and reviews have backed those comparisons. The movie's extraction-centric narrative also echoes Taken, which became a word-of-mouth sensation nearly two decades ago and turned Liam Neeson into an action star. The Furious is being hailed as one of the best action movies of the 2020s, and its box office debut reflects that enthusiasm.
The film currently holds a "Certified Fresh" 97% critics' score and a "Verified Hot" 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The aggregator's consensus reads: "The Furious detonates into a relentless, blood-soaked spectacle of breathtakingly inventive martial arts choreography, with director Kenji Tanigaki delivering a brutal, balletic action extravaganza."
In its domestic opening weekend, The Furious grossed $2.75 million from around 1,200 theaters, securing a top-10 spot. It delivered a higher per-theater average than holdover titles like The Mandalorian and Grogu and Michael. Produced on a reported budget of $20 million, the film topped the box office charts in China, where it grossed $13.5 million, contributing to its early global haul of $15 million.
Fans of Asian martial arts movies can look forward to master fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping's Blades of the Guardians, which will be released digitally on June 30. For those who love intense action, The Furious is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned to ShowtimeSpot for more updates.
If you're a fan of high-octane action, you might also enjoy our list of The Most Gut-Wrenching Psychological Thrillers Ever Made, Ranked or explore Top 10 Supernatural Thrillers of the Last 50 Years, Ranked.
