“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is on track to gross between $250 million and $265 million over the course of its three-day opening weekend, veteran box office observers tell TheWrap.
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But movie studio Walt Disney Co says millions of tickets are still available to see the film – which unites the cast from the original trilogy with newcomers – as theaters add capacity to meet demand.
Since beginning its overseas rollout Wednesday, “The Force Awakens” has made an estimated $129.5 million internationally.
Analysts predict that the seventh instalment of the iconic space saga, which cost Disney an estimated $200 million to produce, could score the biggest opening weekend ever and could even become the biggest film of all time.
“We appear to be headed for $200M+ through Sunday and the possibility of an all-time weekend record”, Disney said.
The opening weekend record is now held by Jurassic World which premiered earlier this year to US$208.8 million at the box office.
Such a positive reaction for “The Force Awakens” may attract the kind of repeat viewings that made James Cameron’s “Avatar” and “Titanic” the highest grossing films of all time. “The Force Awakens”, which opens in 4,134 theaters, is expected to break more box office records throughout the month.
The film also beat the record for most views of a trailer in 24 hours, and is looking to be the fastest film to reach $1 billion globally – “Jurassic World” took 13 days to do it earlier this year.
Strong reviews for the film, which is set 30 years after “Return of the Jedi”, have added to the fervor for “The Force Awakens”.
“Star Wars” has already set an industry record with a $100 million-plus Friday – the first triple-digit-million day in box office history.
While “Star Wars” helped create the summer blockbuster, “The Force Awakens” is debuting in the holiday season of December, where the previous top opening was the $84.6 million debut of 2012’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”.
US President Barack Obama, 55 minutes into his year-end press conference, finished answering a question about incarceration rates and seized an opportunity to make his own escape – like Darth Vader fleeing the Death Star.
At the White House, R2-D2 and two Stormtroopers surprised reporters with a quick appearance in the briefing room.
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“Clearly, this is not the most important thing that’s taking place in the White House today”, he joked.
