The Walt Disney Studios announced today that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has set a new all-time domestic debut record with an estimated $238M. At $528 million (the latest number revealed), the film will have earned about $3M more than Jurassic World.
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The film is set 30 years after the “Return of the Jedi” and stars familiar characters like Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo.
With final numbers now in, Star Wars: The Force Awakens rose above estimates to post an all-time industry-high of $247,966,675 domestically and $281 million internationally for an all-time record global debut of $529 million since opening day-and-date December 16.
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Thanks to the massive debut of “The Force Awakens” the overall box office for all movies this weekend also broke a record, bringing in over $300 million for the first time in history. Jefferies’ report indicated that the continuous slowdown of Disney’s ESPN business will hurt the company long term.
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The film has not yet opened in China, home to the the second-largest movie customer base in the world. These totals shattered the domestic box office opening weekend record of $208.8 million set by Jurassic World earlier this year.
“At this rate, there’s no telling how high Force Awakens will ultimately fly in terms of box-office revenue, since films over the year-end holidays can see huge multiples”, she said, citing James Cameron’s film Avatar, which eventually raked in $2.79bn (£1.82bn) around the world. But it looks like it will fall to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Disney’s previous record was $4.73 billion in 2013.
However, the dinosaur franchise had the added benefit of a Chinese audience for its opening weekend figure – Star Wars won’t open there until January 9.
Meanwhile, analysts have put the decimation of web traffic over the last week down to Star Wars fans avoiding spoilers for The Force Awakens, which was released on Thursday (December 17). Cinema people expect the film to reach the AU$100 million mark soon.
The filmmakers Disney hired to develop a trilogy for an entire new generation clearly demonstrates that Disney wants these Star Wars films to succeed both critically and commercially.
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White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest appears in the briefing room with Star Wars Stormtroopers and R2-D2 (L) after Obama finished his end of the year news conference at the White House.
