Disney said that the strong showing for the latest “Star Wars”, which is playing at 4,134 North American theaters, “keeps us forecasting an opening weekend near $220 million”. A $100 million day would best the previous one-day high of $91.1 million, set by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”. This weekend’s monster opening gives Force Awakens records for biggest Thursday night opening, biggest single-day gross, biggest December opening, and of course, biggest opening weekend. One of the keys of long-term record holding is people viewing the film multiple times and, unfortunately for Star Wars, the current viewing demographic is not known for doing so. Hollis said exhibitors are continually adding more screenings to satisfy demand.
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“The Force Awakens” racked up $517 million globally in its first weekend in theaters, a massive launch that falls just shy of a record opening.
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“Star Wars” fever has spread through movie theatres around the globe, even reaching the White House, as the franchise yet again began toppling box-office records with waves of lightsaber-wielding fans. The record holder for the biggest opening during the month is “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”, which took in $85 million in domestic receipts in 2012.
Disney and Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur” and South Korean adventure drama “The Himalayas” rounded out the top five highest-grossing films overseas, earning $9.2 million and $8.5 million, respectively.
It’s estimated to make over $200 million in the US according to Variety. The record is held by “Avatar” with $2.8 billion.
The movie is opening three years after Disney paid $4.06 billion for Lucasfilm.
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The trio of heroes who appeared in the first of the blockbusters in 1977 – smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), leader of the rebel alliance, and her twin brother Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) – are all back and played by the actors that Star Wars first made famous.
