The Incredible World Record Set By Fast And Furious 7's 'See You Again'
There's no mistaking that the "Fast and the Furious" franchise is one of the most profitable and successful movie properties today. Per CNBC, the series is among the top 13 highest-grossing film franchises ever, sharing the list with other box office heavyweights like the "Star Wars" movies and entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And as Deadline reported on May 24, 2021, the franchise shows no hints of slowing down thanks to its latest entry, "F9." The soon-to-debut movie about Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew has already earned $163 million in eight international territories, with its biggest contributor being China, ahead of its stateside launch on June 25.
The movie series' staying power and box office dominance is due to it being one of the few movie franchises that have managed to get better with each sequel. One of its best sequels is easily its seventh installment: "Furious 7." The 2015 flick had a lot to offer, but it's the movie's final scene with Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and Dominic Toretto that's still the most fondly remembered and hits fans the hardest — largely due to its featured song "See You Again," which has managed to break quite a few records.
'See You Again' is a certified diamond hit with billions of video streams
"See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth has many accolades to its name. For one, as XXL Mag notes, the song is Certified Diamond by the RIAA, with 10 million units sold. Additionally, Billboard reported that in 2015, the song broke the record for most streams in a day on Spotify, at 4.2 million listens. This was all thanks to the streaming success of its music video, which actually set its own impressive record. The music video for "See You Again" one of four YouTube videos that have over 5 billion views, per Forbes, as of May 2021. As noted by Entertainment Weekly, back in October 2015, the "See You Again" video became the first rap video to reach 1 billion streams on YouTube, and hit that milestone faster than any other video on the platform.
A major reason for the song's success is tied to the emotional goodbye the series gives to Paul Walker. The actor tragically died in an auto accident in 2013, prior to the release of "Furious 7," and received an in-universe send-off through his character Brian O'Conner. During the ending of the film, Brian and Dom are driving in separate cars, and when they reach a fork in the road, they go their separate ways. It's a heartfelt scene (achieved through blending previously captured footage of Walker and stand-in footage of his brothers Caleb and Cody, plus actor John Brotherton) that's elevated further thanks to "See You Again," which plays afterward.
While the song is a fan favorite, it could have actually been vastly different. As the Los Angeles Times reports, Puth's contribution was chosen out of 50 other songwriters asked to come up with a song meant to pay tribute to Walker. Puth and co-songwriter Justin Franks thought they'd never hear anything else after sending the track off to Atlantic Records. Fortunately, Atlantic executives thought Puth's melody was perfect, and "Furious 7" got the right song tied to its most pivotal scene.