Abrams – broke the previous record of Jurassic World, which opened this summer at $208.8 million in ticket sales. Chris Geer poses for a photo in front of the Star Wars movie poster with his son Ethan during opening night of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at Century Theatre in Boulder, Colo., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015.
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The final Harry Potter film holds the Friday to Sunday record of £23.75m, which is also set to be broken by the new Star Wars movie.
Standing next to his wife, who was decked out in a R2-D2 hoodie, Chris Barreno, 36, was getting ready Saturday for his second viewing of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at the ArcLight Cinemas in El Segundo.
That falls short of the dinosaurs’ global opening weekend record of $316.1 million and their record for a worldwide – that is foreign and domestic grosses combined – opening weekend of $524.9 million within range.
The 73-year-old actor – who has reprised the role of Han Solo for the much-anticipated new movie – feels “proud” of the J.J. Abrams-directed film and touched by the support of fans.
More important, with audiences in the US and most foreign countries embracing the movie, Disney is setting up “Star Wars” to be a success in many media for years to come, including annual big-screen sequels and spinoffs, merchandise, television shows and theme-park attractions. The film cost about $200 million to make, according to industry estimates.
The film also set a new opening day box office record in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The movie’s impressive opening also shattered the opening weekend record for movies released in December, when audiences are more focused on holiday shopping and travel. Greenfield said the success of “Force Awakens” would not offset the impact of subscriber losses at ESPN.
You may have heard of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is the latest in a film series commonly known as Star Wars.
The film is playing at a total of 4,134 North American locations on Friday – a record for a December opening.
Disney paid $US4 billion for Lucasfilm in 2012.
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Thousands of Star Wars enthusiasts gathered for a mass lightsabre battle in Los Angeles, California on Friday.
