This obliterates the former domestic opening record held by Jurassic World, which debuted to $208.8 million back in June.
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The seventh Star Wars movie will take in about 15 times as each of the two other openers – Universal’s Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy “Sisters” and Fox’s “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.’ ‘Sisters” should gross $15 million to $17 million at 2,961 North American theaters and the fourth installment in the Alvin series should make $14 million to $16 million from 3,653 locations.
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ beats competition to rule global box office
Star Wars does not share the same universal popularity as other films in certain key markets around the world, such as China. The current record holder is Avatar , which generated $US2.8 billion worldwide after its December 2009 release.
Disney also boosted its Friday estimate from at least $100 million in the early afternoon to $120 million by the late afternoon to as much as $125 million by late evening. That smashes the previous opening day record of $91.1 million, set by 2011’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2”. Combined with its global totals, the film has grossed $517 million worldwide in just this weekend alone.
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This is according to the latest figures compiled by UNHCR together with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). By July, more than 185,000 people applied for asylum in the European Union, and numbers will continue climbing.
The Force Awakens doesn’t debut in China until January 9, so Star Wars has the potential to actually make more money than Jurassic World before it’s all said and done, since it’s already doing huge business without China.
The most anticipated film in the galaxy opened globally Thursday, setting worldwide and pre-sale box-office records and delighting moviegoers who’ve had opening-night tickets in hand for months. Disney, which paid more than $4 billion for Lucasfilm in 2009, had been downplaying expectations, but rival studios and industry analysts believe that “The Force Awakens” will open to $210 million or more. Sequels and spinoffs are already in development for years to come, not to mention an entire corner of Disneyland devoted to the franchise.
Buzz about the film has been building for over a year, and now, between the hype and critics’ positive reviews, it’s no surprise it’s bringing record numbers at the gate. The American Film Institute listed it among its top 10 films of the year.
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The cast includes Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o and Domhnall Gleeson along with original “Star Wars” stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.
