(AllHipHop News) In 2015, F. Gary Gray became the highest-grossing African-American director of a single film in domestic sales when Straight Outta Compton brought in $161.2 million.
While Compton has since been passed by Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Gray now has the highest-grossing international opening for an African-American director ever.
The former music video director broke that mark when The Fate of the Furious earned an estimated a $532.5 million box office opening around the world.
That total is also the largest global opening for any movie in history, passing Star Wars: The Force Awakens which made $529 million two years ago.
Those huge worldwide numbers offset the lower than expected domestic box office total for The Fate of the Furious.
The movie – also referred to as Fast & Furious 8 – brought in around $100.2 million in North America which is less than the $147 million opening for Furious 7.
Yet, the 100.2 million haul is still the second highest first-weekend domestic gross of the eight films in the series.
“This franchise is showing no sign of wear and tear,” said Duncan Clark, President of Distribution for Universal Pictures International. “Fate of the Furious is satisfying audiences on many different levels.”
Vin Diesel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, and Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges returned as cast members for the latest edition of the action flick franchise.
Gray’s filmography also features Friday, Set It Off, The Negotiator, and The Italian Job.
He helmed videos for Hip Hop standouts like Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, TLC, OutKast, Jay Z, and Rick Ross as well.
