"Fast & Furious", the fourth installment of the hot rod franchise, scored the highest April debut of all-time with $72.5 million this weekend, according to studio estimates from Nielsen EDI.

The film re-unites the core of the cast from the original "Fast & Furious" including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriguez, features souped-up Toyotas and other cars battling for supremacy on the streets of Los Angeles. The previous record-holder for an April debut was the Adam Sandler comedy "Anger Management", which made $42 million in 2003.

The 3-D animated comedy "Monsters vs. Aliens" fought for a distant second place with $33.5 million, bringing the children’s film to $106 million in 10 days.

The horror film "The Haunting in Connecticut" was third with $9.55 million, while Nicolas Cage's thriller "Knowing" was fourth brings its three-week grosses to $58.2 million. Rounding out the top five was the Paul Rudd comedy "I Love You, Man" with $7.85 million. It has earned $49.3 million in three weeks.

Final figures are due today.