Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the latest episode of the legendary science-fiction movie series, earned more than $33 million in its Saturday debut in China, ranking third in history only after Furious 7 and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
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The sci-fi/fantasy epic from J.J. Abrams earned $41.6 million to land at the top spot, blowing past the $1.669 billion gross from Jurassic World to become the No. 3 title of all time worldwide behind Avatar ($2.78 billion) and Titanic ($2.19 billion).
Success in China, the world’s second-largest movie market, is becoming increasingly crucial for Hollywood studios as analysts predict ticket sales in the country will overtake those of the United States as soon as next year. In its 4th weekend (which would be 24 days), The Force Awakens racked up another $41.6M, according to estimates, raising its record to $812M.
This weekend, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now the number one film all time domestically, The Revenant expanded nationwide to explosive results while Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight crumbled in its second week of wide release. That brought the film’s total earnings to $1.73 billion. In the US and Canada, it is the biggest movie ever and the first to pass $800 million with $812 million so far.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has proved to be a real box office hit.
Through a series of aggressive marketing campaigns, which included an army of storm troopers positioned in the Great Wall and a music video from a popular pop icon, Disney hopes to gain the hearts of Chinese viewers with the seventh Star Wars installment. The lone new release this weekend, horror flick The Forest, bowed in at fourth place with $13 million.
Sisters, starring Amy Poehler and Tina Fey as siblings suffering from arrested development, made $7.2 million for a slot in fifth place. While that may seem like a lot, it’s weak when compared to films such as Avengers: Age of Ultron which opened to $155 million past year.
The movie, beset by production issues as the cast and crew chased snowy conditions for the shoot, cost $135 million to make, a figure that doesn’t include marketing costs, according to Box Office Mojo.
Daddy’s Home has proven surprisingly resilient despite lackluster reviews, falling to third with an estimated $15 million, but has topped $116.3 million in domestic revenue.
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Weekend sales for the top 10 films rose 34 percent to $140.6 million from a year earlier, Rentrak said.
