Photo credit: Getty Images
Over the weekend, director F. Gary Gray made history again. With Universal's eighth installment of the Fast and Furious series speeding pass the $100 million domestic and $530 million international mark, Gray was able to snag the highest-grossing global opening for an African American director. As a matter of fact, the film also marked the highest-grossing worldwide opening for any director ever. In addition to directing "The Fate of the Furious", the former music video director also helmed films like "Friday", "Set it Off", and "Straight Outta Compton", which in 2015, made him become the highest-grossing Black director with a single film.
After earning a $532.5 million worldwide opening, "The Fate of the Furious" now has the largest opening in movie history, making Gray the most successful Black director to date. Many people sent their congratulations to Gray for his incredible accomplishment, including visionary filmmaker, Ava DuVernay.
Kudos @FGaryGray for making black history today! $532 million worldwide on opening weekend. Through your lens. Bravo. pic.twitter.com/wDKMHGnOE4
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 16, 2017
We're sending our congratulations to Mr. Gray as well for blazing his own trail and being an inspiration to present and future Black filmmakers.