Los Angeles, United States: ‘Furious 7’ surged ahead of its North American box office competition for a third straight week, taking in an estimated $29 million to hit $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales.

The strong weekend showing gives the car racing action flick a $294 million haul in the US and Canada since its release and giving the movie certifiable blockbuster status.

The franchise of all seven ‘Fast and Furious’ films has brought in a record-breaking $3.39 billion, NBCUniversal said.

‘This is the first time in Universal’s 103-year history that we have had a film achieve this level of success in its first run,’ said Ron Meyer, vice chairman of studio parent NBCUniversal, in a statement.

‘It will certainly exceed this number as well as have the distinction of being the quickest of any film to reach this milestone in just 17 days’.