--- title: 'Furious 7' Huge Box Office Proves Diverse Casting Pays Off description: 75% of the record-breaking film's North American audience was nonwhite canonical: https://time.com/3772166/furious-7-box-office-diversity/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-06T18:34:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:01.702Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Why More Movies Should Be as Diverse as "Furious 7" og:description: 75% of the record-breaking film's North American audience was nonwhite og:url: https://time.com/3772166/furious-7-box-office-diversity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f5e73052e92c88a/6987864b35ba6f5349c07da2/furious-7b.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Film Title: Furious 7 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why More Movies Should Be as Diverse as "Furious 7" twitter:description: 75% of the record-breaking film's North American audience was nonwhite twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f5e73052e92c88a/6987864b35ba6f5349c07da2/furious-7b.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is the Real Reason _Furious 7_ Is a Box-Office Smash > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: The Strange Redemption Of 'Fast And Furious' [Watch (HLS stream): The Strange Redemption Of 'Fast And Furious'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RXpyVwJV.m3u8) (1:45)  _Published 2015-04-03. The "Fast and Furious" franchise has gone from mediocre to terrible to downright wonderful in the eyes of critics, who now can't stop praising it._  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Apr 6, 2015 6:34 PM UTC  Tyrese Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges star in Furious 7 Tyrese Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges star in Furious 7Scott Garfield—Universal  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Apr 6, 2015 6:34 PM UTC Given how whitewashed this summer’s blockbusters look — from _The Avengers_ to _Jurassic World_ — it’s no surprise that audiences rushed to see _Furious 7_ this weekend, which grossed a whopping $385 million internationally. People want to see characters who look like them represented in the movies, and _Fast & Furious_ is currently the only major action franchise that boasts a _truly_ diverse cast. In any other series, a handsome white guy like Paul Walker would be the sole hero. With the baby blues of Daniel Craig and a six-pack like Channing Tatum, he looks the part — it was a piece of what made him such a bankable star in the years leading up to his death. And ostensibly, Walker _was_ the star of the first two films. But by the fifth installment, he was just one of an impressively diverse entourage that included an Italian-American man, a Japanese man, two black men, a Latino woman and an Israeli woman. Yes, as it turns out, women can drive fast too. _Fast & Furious_ has been surprisingly progressive when it comes to gender equality. Letty throws a punch as hard as Dominic. And when we meet an attractive female hacker (played by _Game of Thrones’_ Nathalie Emmanuel) in the latest installment, one male character is quick to admonish another who assumes that only nerdy boys can be programmers. Casting a wide range of actors in the films has paid off handsomely for Universal. The film set a franchise-best record this weekend by pulling in a diverse audience. [According to](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/furious-7-audience-75-percent-786452) the _Hollywood Reporter_, 75% of the North American audience for _Furious 7_ was nonwhite. Hispanics — who go to the movies more than any other ethnic group,[ according to](http://time.com/2987853/study-hollywood-hispanic-women-movies/) the Motion Picture Association of America — made up 37% of ticket buyers, followed by Caucasians (25%), African Americans (24%) and Asians (10%). The international cast and global shooting locations — in this film, the characters makes stops in L.A., the Dominican Republic, Japan, Abu Dhabi and London — have also drawn a massive global audience. The movie set records for the biggest opening weekend of all time in 26 countries, including Mexico and Taiwan. ### These Are the 11 Best Bromances of All Time  Brian O'Conner and Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious Universal  Turk and J.D. in Scrubs Justin Lubin—ABC/Getty Images  Spock and Kirk in Star Trek CBS/Getty Images  Woody and Buzz in Toy Story Pixar/Disney  Cory and Shawn in Boy Meets World ABC/Getty Images  Sulley and Mike Wazowski in Monsters, Inc. Pixar/Disney  Chandler and Joey in Friends Danny Feld—NBC/Getty Images  Dr. John Watson and Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Robert Viglasky—Hartswood Films/Masterpiece  Alan, Stu, Doug and Phil in The Hangover Warner Bros.  Troy and Abed in Community Justing Lubin—NBC/Getty Images  Brian and Stewie in Family Guy Fox _Fast & Furious_ isn’t the first film to discover how lucrative global appeal can be — _Pacific Rim_ exceeded expectations globally in 2013 thanks to a diverse cast that included Idris Elba and Rinko Kikuchi along with Charlie Hunnam. But it _is_ the first franchise to capitalize on it on a massive scale. Of course, diversity isn’t the _only_ reason the _Furious_ series is a hit. In each film, the stunts get more ridiculous — the latest is crashing a flying car through three different high-rises. The films have fully embraced a sense of fun and irony (see: Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson flexing his arm to break a cast) at a time when superhero movies seem to be getting ever more dark and serious. And plenty of fans sped to the theater to see how the series would treat the real-life death of Paul Walker. (For the record: they pulled off a moving tribute.) But while these elements may make the series a hit, it’s the diverse range of perspectives that make it a bona fide phenomenon. That point may be obvious to anyone who followed the [skyrocketing viewership numbers](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/06/foxs-empire-breaks-23-year-record) of _Empire_, a Fox drama that focuses on a black hip-hop mogul and his family, on TV this spring. But studios tend to be slow on the uptake when it comes to casting. Let’s hope they take notice and use _Furious 7_ as a model for future action franchises. _Read next:_ [_Review: In_ ](http://time.com/3766037/furious-7-review-paul-walker-vin-diesel/?iid=time%5Freadnext)[Furious 7_, Gravity Is for Wimps_](http://time.com/3766037/furious-7-review-paul-walker-vin-diesel/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) 'Furious 7' Huge Box Office Proves Diverse Casting Pays Off ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3772166/furious-7-box-office-diversity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3772166/furious-7-box-office-diversity/"},"headline":"This Is the Real Reason Furious 7 Is a Box-Office Smash","datePublished":"2015-04-06T18:34:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:41:01.702Z","description":"75% of the record-breaking film's North American audience was nonwhite","url":"https://time.com/3772166/furious-7-box-office-diversity/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f5e73052e92c88a/6987864b35ba6f5349c07da2/furious-7b.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f5e73052e92c88a/6987864b35ba6f5349c07da2/furious-7b.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Film Title: Furious 7","caption":"Film Title: Furious 7","creditText":"Scott Garfield—Universal","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3772166/furious-7-box-office-diversity/","name":"This Is the Real Reason Furious 7 Is a Box-Office Smash"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Strange Redemption Of 'Fast And Furious'","description":"The \"Fast and Furious\" franchise has gone from mediocre to terrible to downright wonderful in the eyes of critics, who now can't stop praising it.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RXpyVwJV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-04-03T13:21:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RXpyVwJV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3772166/furious-7-box-office-diversity/","duration":"PT1M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3772166/furious-7-box-office-diversity/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```