“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” smashed the opening night record in the United States and Canada and was poised to become one of the biggest grossing movies ever, industry experts said. They were hoping to be among the first to watch the eagerly anticipated sequel “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” on opening weekend. That smashes the previous opening day record of $91.1 million, set by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2”.
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Through Friday, worldwide ticket sales reached $US129.5 million, setting opening-day records in Britain, Germany, Brazil, Australia and other countries. Rival studios had been projecting an opening weekend above $250 million since midday Friday, but Disney has opted for a cautious outlook, asserting in the early afternoon that the seventh Star Wars movie would top $200 million and then pushing that to $215 million in the late afternoon. That sum would handily defeat Jurassic World, which set a new record of $208.8 million when it debuted in North America this summer.
Force Awakens began rolling out in global markets on Wednesday.
China is the world’s second-largest film market.
Rentrak’s survey of moviegoers showed 76% rated “The Force Awakens” at “excellent” along with 19% as “very good”.
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Directed by J.J. Abrams, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” stars franchise veterans Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker, joined by newcomers John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie and Max von Sydow.
