The updated estimate from Disney places the seventh Star Wars movie about $6 million ahead of current record holder, Universal’s “Jurassic World”, which opened at $208.4 million earlier this year on the June 12-14 weekend.
Advertisement
“Force Awakens” has already smashed several film industry records and won praise from critics and moviegoers.
This updated $120 – $125 million number includes a $57 million total for Thursday “preview” shows, which is also a record for Thursday previews.
Globally, the latest “Star Wars” space epic raked in an estimated $517 million, falling in second behind “Jurassic World”, which earned $524.9 million worldwide in its first weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The previous single day victor was Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows: Part 2 with a $91 million single day take that included Thursday mid-night showings.
“The Force Awakens”, which has had its legions of fans frothing at the mouth ever since its mooted release, has grossed an estimated 129.5 million internationally since it opened overseas on Wednesday, setting records in Britain, Germany, Norway and Sweden.
If the movie can hit $250 million (or more accurately, $248.8 million), it would actually debut in the #6 spot for total domestic gross for the entire year of 2015.
The new “Star Wars” film is the first installment in a decade of the series, which was created by George Lucas in 1977.
As far as all-time box office sales, two films by James Cameron hold the record – “Avatar” ($2.78 billion) and “Titanic” ($2.18 billion).
The movie directed by JJ Abrams scored a 95 per cent positive rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.
Advertisement
J. J Abrams is winning acclaim for the hugely successful Star Wars: The Force Awakens but he’s now revealed that he had a lot of doubts about taking on the franchise.
