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‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ opening blasts away box office records
The latest instalment of the highly anticipated space epic raked in $57 million for its opening night Thursday, easily beating the previous record – $43.5 million – held by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” in 2011. It also netted the records for the biggest single day opening, the fastest movie to gross $1 million – taking only one day to achieve that feat – and helped set a new record for the most money ever taken in USA movie theaters in a single weekend.
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Rounding out the eight most-popular movies this weekend, in the USA and Canada and as estimated by the studios and Rentrak, were “Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2” ($5.7 million), “Creed” ($5 million), “The Good Dinosaur” ($4.2 million), “Krampus” ($3.8 million) and “In The Heart Of The Sea” ($3.5 million).
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has already put its stamp on the record books, kicking off its domestic release with an estimated $120.5 million Friday opening.
J.J. Abrams’s “Force Awakens” is benefiting from not only decades of Star Wars fandom and nostalgia, but also – unlike the prequels – critical acclaim and positive word of mouth.
Speaking at the European premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in London’s Leicester Square this week, he said: “I’m glad people are interested”. That was a significant hurdle for “Star Wars” to overcome.
Jurassic World, released in June, holds the record for the biggest opening weekend worldwide, raking in $511.8m (£345m) over its first three days.
The movie stars previous stars Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, along with newcomers Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Lupita Nyong’o, Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac.
Disney execs estimate that the film is on track for a $200 million opening weekend, a rather conservative estimate at this point. Its ability to profitably exploit “Star Wars” across all its divisions was the justification for Disney’s $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm LLC in 2012.
Audiences awarded it an “A” rating in polling by survey firm CinemaScore, Disney said. About $99 million of Jurassic World’s record came from China, and The Force Awakens won’t open in China until January 9.
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Even where Star Wars didn’t take the all-time crown, it delivered.