'Fast & Furious 6' races through $120 million opening

Over Memorial Day weekend, the clear winner was Fast & Furious 6. The latest model in this octane-fueled franchise turned in the best opening yet for the series. Over the four-day period, Fast & Furious 6 earned $120 million, two-and-a-half times as much as its closest competitor, The Hangover Part III. The three-day opening was also $10 million higher than Fast Five, which debuted to $86 million in April 2011. It's rare to see franchises endure and get better over so many incarnations, but that's the case here. In its favor was an "A" rating in exit polls and high attendance among minorities, who likely connect with the diverse cast. A third of ticketbuyers were Hispanics.

While Fast & Furious 6 did better than the sequel before it, The Hangover Part III had an opening weekend that was over 50% lower than The Hangover II. In the five-day period since its Thursday opening, the comedy earned $63 million, compared to the $135 million earned by its predecessor during the same period. That's under the estimated $80 million projected by Warner Bros., while still a decent showing for an R-rated movie over the Memorial Day holiday.

Opening in fourth place, Epic scored a $42.6 million opening. Animated features usually play a long game, as families show up months after a film's release. Kids gave this movie an "A+" rating, so that may help the tale about forest creatures in coming weeks. In a month, however, Monsters University will start to siphon away family audiences.

This weekend was a good one for indies. The summer usually yields at least one indie hit, and this weekend saw the release of a few contenders. Before Midnight debuted to $322,000 over the four-day period, and its three-day per-screen average was $50,000 per location, a great start for the indie romance that is also the third film in a series. Most specialty films don't inspire sequels, but when they do, it appears they reap the same returns as mainstream franchises. The well-regarded

Fill the Void also made a strong opening, averaging nearly $20,000 per screen in three locations. The story of an Orthodox young woman sheds light on a religious world often closed off from outsiders, heightening its appeal. In its second week, Frances Ha went up 300%, pulling in $546,000 from 60 locations, which posted an average of $9,000 per screen. That's great news for the Greta Gerwig-led indie, which could end up being director Noah Baumbach's biggest success yet.

In seventh place, Mud rose 9% over the four-day period for a total of $2.4 million. With a cumulative total over $15 million, the movie is now Roadside Attractions' best-performing release.

On Friday, Will and Jaden Smith topline the apocalyptic After Earth, magicians pull off a heist in Now You See Me, and indies The East and The Kings of Summer join the fray.