Monday Morning Update: Fast 7 was locked in a tight race for top spot this past week with the upstart Unfriended, managing to eek out a victory by less than .5% of a percent. As news of its plot, marketing, and promo material flood the worldwide web the film has been doing well across all forms of social media, and Facebook is no different. This is pretty remarkable when you think that over 55 million people have already liked the page, one would think it was already at saturation point but it keeps expanding. Harry Potter‘s eight record setting films drove that franchise to just over 76 million likes, a record in the film industry on Facebook, and one that the Furious franchise will have a shot at sometime during its 9th or 10th installment no doubt. Part 7 is set to be the biggest of them all, in part because they have been trending upwards over the recent releases and due to the fact that Paul Walker’s passing in real life will likely bring out just about anyone who has seen any of the previous films to bid their farewell. This is truly a global film and as such it should explode as its release date approaches and after. 62 million plus likes by the end of the box office run is likely.
Unfriended went toe to toe with a giant worldwide heavy hitter this past week which was shifting into top marketing gear and almost came out on top. Of course its overall numbers are miniscule by comparison but this just further cements it as a breakout waiting to happen this April. Its now tracking way ahead of virtually every other horror breakout in the past five years (yes even Paranormal Activity), which is hugely impressive. Whether this hype will translate to box office dollars is up for debate as films targeting to teen demographic have been known to explode on social media and underperform at the box office as many are quick to point out. I’m less reserved and think that $20 million is in the bag here, with upside to $30+. That might be crazy numbers but with the type of buzz it is dragging its a can’t miss hit at this point.
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