"Fast Five" packs up heat

Writer: Anne Jamaludin

Original "Fast And Furious" duo Vin Diesel & Paul Walker (right) is pursued by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in "Fast Five".

3 May – "Fast Five" had made off with a line-busting US$86.2 million, zooming straight to the top spot at the North American box office, edging out "Rio"'s stronghold and followed by Tyler Perry's "Madea's Big Happy Family" for the weekend just gone (29 Apr-1 May), BoxOfficeMoho reported.

Being the fifth movie of the famous high-speed film franchise "Fast And Furious", "Fast Five" apparently more than doubled fellow Rio de Janeiro adventure, "Rio" - which only garnered US$39.2 million during its opening weekend - to claim the biggest opening of 2011.

"Fast Five", or re-titled as "Fast And Furious 5" for territorial release, is scheduled to open at the cinemas in Malaysia and Singapore on 5 May.

Ranking second, Rio dropped 44 percent to US$14.8 million and with a US$104 million total in 17 days, the animated comedy rose to third place on the 2011 chart, behind "Rango" (US$119.9 million) and "Hop" ($105.4 million), and it will soon surpass those titles.

"Thor" costumed character made its second week appearance at TGV Sunway Pyramid on Sunday

Over the Labour day weekend in Malaysia, a real-life "Thor" had been making scheduled appearances at GSC 1Utama and GSC Tropicana City Mall on Saturday, 30 April and at TGV Sunway Pyramid on Sunday, 1 May. Fans as well as moviegoers flocked to the respective cinemas for photo opportunities with the costumed character.

Other new releases and sneak shows over the weekend in Malaysia include "Fast And Furious 5 (2D)", "Fast And Furious 5", "Water For Elephants", "Chalo Dilli", "Vaanam", "Thor", "The Lost Bladesman", "Seru" and "Thor (3D)".

New releases and sneak shows in Singapore over the weekend include "Fast And Furious 5", "Water For Elephants", "The Lost Bladesman", "Chalo Dilli", "The Resident", "The Chronicles of Merong Mahawangsa", "Thor (3D)", "Thor", "Thor (2D)" and "The Roommate".