'Fast & Furious 6' fuels record weekend at box-office

The exhaust smoke hasn't even cleared, and already Hollywood can brag about its biggest money-making Memorial Day Weekend ever.

Hollywood.com hit the accelerator with its gushing, declaring the expected four-day take of $316 million to be "absolutely monumental," leaving previous late May holiday weekends choking in its dust.

"One of the biggest weekends of all-time!" writes Paul Dergarabedian.

Indeed, BoxOfficeMojo.com gives the previous champ as Dec 25-27, 2009 (led by Avatar), with a distant $259.9 million in total domestic ticket sales. Then again, add in the the $58.3 million from Monday, Dec. 28, 2009, and the comparable four-day total becomes an unsurpassed $318.2 million.

The debut of Fast & Furious 6, starring Vin Diesel, was the main getaway vehicle this weekend, expected to rake in $120 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. That haul is second this year only to Iron Man 3's $174 million (which was second all-time to only The Avengers' $207.4 million).

Thanks to ethnic-conscious casting, the film appeals to many groups, especially Hispanics, Yahoo points out.

But five other films, including three other sequels, amassed a lot money this weekend as well.

The Hangover Part III, starring Bradley Cooper, failed to match its predecessor's start, but should revel in $51.2 million.

Star Trek Into Darkness continued to shine bright, adding $47 million to propel its two-week total to about $156 million.

Epic, a new animated fantasy adventure, found about $42.6 million, followed by $24.4 million for Iron Man 3 ($372.4 million total) and $17 million for The Great Gatsby ($117 million total).

The previous Memorial Day Weekend record of $268 million was set in 2011, when Hangover II led the way with $103.4 million.