--- description: 75% of the record-breaking film's North American audience was nonwhite title: Why More Movies Should Be as Diverse as "Furious 7" image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f5e73052e92c88a/6987864b35ba6f5349c07da2/furious-7b.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is the Real Reason _Furious 7_ Is a Box-Office Smash ## 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](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Apr 6, 2015 6:34 PM CUT  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](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Apr 6, 2015 6:34 PM CUT 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 "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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 "undefined") 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 "undefined")[Furious 7_, Gravity Is for Wimps_](http://time.com/3766037/furious-7-review-paul-walker-vin-diesel/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```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":"2026-05-11T05:04:41.627Z","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"}}] ```