Overseas, “The Force Awakens” has grossed $72.7 million in two days, setting debut-day records in more than a dozen nations as it opens in 44 foreign markets.
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Moviegoers cheers and wave lightsabers before the first showing of the movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, December 17, 2015.
Disney is projecting a domestic weekend total of around $220 million, which would surpass the record $208.8 million of “Jurassic World”. Opening day box office includes the revenue from the Thursday previews.
The movie is now open in all markets except Greece and India, where it opens December 24, and China, which has set a January 9 debut.
“We will continue to add showtimes to accommodate the avid fans that have been eagerly awaiting the seventh film in this blockbuster series”, Amy Miles, chief executive officer of Regal Entertainment Group, the largest USA exhibitor, said in the statement. Disney bought “Star Wars” producer Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012 and spent more than $200 million to produce “Force Awakens”.
“There are literally millions of tickets available for this weekend, and exhibitors have a lot of flexibility in terms of capacity and increasing the number of shows based on demand”, Dave Hollis, Disney’s head of distribution, said in the statement.
“(The Force Awakens) is the box office equivalent of the 100-year flood. Critics have hailed it as a fan-friendly return to form for the franchise; the American Film Institute listed it among its top 10 films of the year.
But so far, “The Force Awakens” is attracting the interest of seemingly everyone. Whether “The Force Awakens” can come close to the global hauls of those films ($2.8 billion for “Avatar” and $2.2 billion for “Titanic”) won’t be clear for weeks.
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A gaggle of Stormtroopers and the droid R2-D2 were spotted in the West Wing on Friday – there was a screening of “Star Wars” for people who lost family in the Iraq war. President Barack Obama began a year-end news conference Friday noting, “Clearly, this is not the most important event that’s taking place in the White House today”.
