Elizabeth Frank, AMC, Chief Content and Programming Officer, says: “You can’t get any broader than this movie when it comes to audience appeal, and this weekend and beyond AMC will offer consumers the opportunity to enjoy STAR WARS however they would like – evening, midnight or morning, IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 2D or 3D, big cities and small towns, even corporate events and children’s birthday parties”.
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“The Force Awakens” also debuted in a dozen global markets on Wednesday with a total of $14.1 million at the worldwide box office.
Despite many sold-out shows, there are still plenty of seats available for “Star Wars”, as many theaters throughout the country are staying open 24 hours a day in order to screen the movie around the clock.
Such an outcome would surprise few analysts, but the numbers were nevertheless eye-popping. The Walt Disney Co.’s estimate on Friday easily surpassed the previous Thursday night record of $43.5 million by 2011’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”.
The opening weekend record is now held by Jurassic World, which premiered earlier this year to $208.8 million at the box office.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” had the biggest opening weekend for a movie ever. Saturday and Sunday will depend more on traditional walk-up business.
Disney said theatres were adding showtimes to meet “unprecedented demand”.
The same tactic, coupled with the decision to open the film on a Monday, enabled Spectre to set the record for the biggest opening ever at the United Kingdom and Ireland box office. Currently, “The Force Awakens” stands at 95 percent.
3-D screening accounted for 47% of the night’s grosses on Thursday. Leading up to the release, Disney took great pains to downplay the earning potential, but with numbers like these, there are a lot of folks at Lucasfilm and the Mouse House doing happy little dances. Sequels and spinoffs are already in development for years to come, not to mention an entire corner of Disneyland devoted to the franchise. 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.
“You go into it cautiously optimistic, hopeful that they make a good movie, and with the new cast and characters they really did a good job”.
As far as all-time box office sales, two films by James Cameron hold the record – Avatar ($2.78 billion) and Titanic ($2.18 billion).
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Boyega was in NY for an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and a Q&A at the Apple store in the Soho neighborhood.
