“We are obviously very encouraged by the record-breaking pre-sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, Dave Hollis, the executive vice president of distribution at Disney, said in a statement.
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Critics applauded “Force Awakens”, which features newcomers Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac alongside original stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
Star Wars is shattering box office records, with ticket sales that are out of this world. To give you an idea of just how big that Friday could be, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 went on to gross $91.1 million opening day, still the all-time record for a single day at the box office. Through Friday, global ticket sales reached US$129.5 million, setting opening-day records in Britain, Germany, Australia, Brazil and other countries.
The first “Star Wars” movie, written and directed by George Lucas, hit theaters in 1977 and launched a cultural phenomenon that has lasted almost 40 years.
The record is now $208.8 million taken by the dinosaur adventure film Jurassic World in June. The current record holder is “Avatar”, which generated US$2.8 billion worldwide after its December 2009 release.
The strong reviews plus a decades-long affection for the “Star Wars” franchise are driving interest, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at box office tracking firm Rentrak.
The movie is opening three years after Disney paid $4.06 billion for Lucasfilm. Here was my experience going to my first ever “Star Wars” opening night.
In North America, the film sold a record $100 million worth of presale tickets before Thursday previews began at approximately 7 p.m. EST.
Even the White House was getting into the “Star Wars” hoopla.
“Clearly, this is not the most important event that’s taking place in the White House today”, Obama said to start the press conference.
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A gaggle of Stormtroopers and the droid R2-D2 were spotted in the West Wing on Friday-there was a screening of “Star Wars” for people who lost family in the Iraq war.
