Fate Of The Furious: F. Gary Gray Becomes First Black Director To Make A Billion Dollar Movie
05/12/2017 05:28 pm EDT
The Fate Of The Furious, like many other films in the Fast and the Furious franchise, has been wildly successful at the Box Office, warranting another film in the long-running series with many of the stars returning.
The domestic numbers were bolstered by the international box office sales, which made up for 80% of the market haul, and pushed the film past the $1 billion mark in tickets sold. And with that distinction for the highest grossing movie of the year comes another for director F. Gary Gray, who just entered an elite category with the success.
Gray became the first black director to gross over $1 billion at the box office with The Fate Of The Furious, making history in a year where successful black directors are making more news.
His achievement comes in the wake of Jordan Peele's debut as a writer and director with Get Out being the most financially successful film from a first-timer, as well as that film being the most profitable movie of the year. And with Moonlight raking in Best Picture and more at this year's Academy Awards, 2017 has become a standout year for achievements of black people in cinema.
UP NEXT: Fate Of The Furious Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide
A music video director, Gray began his filmmaking career with the cult classic Friday starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. He has since gone on to make big budget features such as The Negotiator, The Italian Job, and Straight Outta Compton.
The Fate Of The Furious was his first opportunity with a franchise and he hit it out of the park, surpassing expectations and continuing the success of the fast-paced heisting series of films.
No word on if he'll be back for the ninth installment in the series, but Gray has certainly cemented himself as one of the top directors in Hollywood no matter what kind of movie he's making—he can certainly do it all.
The Fate Of The Furious is in theaters now.
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In The Fate of the Furious, with Dom and Letty married, Brian and Mia retired and the rest of the crew exonerated, the globe-trotting team has found some semblance of a normal life. They soon face an unexpected challenge when a mysterious woman named Cipher forces Dom to betray them all. Now, they must unite to bring home the man who made them a family and stop Cipher from unleashing chaos.
The Fate of the Furious is directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Chris Morgan. The film stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Scott Eastwood, Nathalie Emmanuel, Kurt Russell and Charlize Theron.
[h/t] IndieWire
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