The “Harry Potter” film holds the all-time record for opening day at $91 million (roughly Rs. 603 crores) but the new “Star Wars” which has had rave reviews and even saw Stormtroopers “invade” the White House on Friday is expected to also force it out of that slot.
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But Abrams, who was behind hit films including Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness, talked the offer over with his wife and eventually agreed to take on the role of directing the biggest movie of the year. I really did feel like, ‘That sounds like the wrong idea. The previous record for such previews was the $43.5 million set by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” in 2011, according to data from Rentrak Corp. Midnight screenings on Thursday morning accounted for £2.4m of ticket sales.
In the United Kingdom, some chains have increased their prices for the film.
The movie has already smashed several film industry records and won praise from critics and moviegoers.
Putting the money-making in perspective, Deadline.com said Saturday that the Disney film had grossed $100 million in just 21 hours by 1 p.m. on Friday.
The entire score to the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie has been made available to stream.
“Jurassic World”, an unexpected sensation in June, also holds the global weekend opening record with $524.9 million, a number “The Force Awakens” could well exceed. The UK and Ireland accounted for $29.6m of that.
“Analysts expect The Force Awakens to make about $200m in the U.S. and Canada over its opening weekend, a total that could challenge the record Jurassic World set earlier this year”.
“We will continue to add showtimes to accommodate the avid fans that have been eagerly awaiting the seventh film in this blockbuster series”, Amy Miles, chief executive officer of Regal Entertainment Group, the largest USA exhibitor, said in the statement.
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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”. It opens in China next month.
