Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co. summed up best this weekend’s opening of Disney’s Star Wars: The Force Awaken: “I don’t think ever in the history of movies has their been more hype leading up to release of a film. This is a huge, huge win.”
Star Wars: The Force Awakens stormed the box office this weekend and many records tumbled along the way. The film walked away with an estimated $248 million in its first three days domestically (including $57 million in Thursday night “previews”) along with another $279 million internationally for a massive $529 million worldwide opening.
The film, with a $200 million budget and millions more spent on marketing, represented a big gamble for the Walt Disney Company, which had already plunked down $4 billion for rights to the Skywalker clan. It’s a bet that appears to have paid off, establishing new benchmarks for the movie industry and setting the franchise up for future spinoffs, prequels and installments.
Here are some of the records that Star Wars: The Force Awakens now owns:
Largest Thursday Previews: $57 million
Previous Record: $43.5 million (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)
Largest Friday, Opening Day, Single Day: $120.5 million (estimated)
Previous Record: $91 million (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)
Domestic Opening Weekend: $248 million (estimate)
Previous Record: $208.8 million (Jurassic World)
Highest Per Theater Average (Wide Opening): $57,571 (estimate)
Previous Record: $48,855 / 4,274 theaters (Jurassic World)
Top Opening Weekend for PG-13 Rated Film: $248 million (estimate)
Previous Record: $208.8 million (Jurassic World)
Top Holiday Opening Weekend: $238 million (estimate)
Previous Record: $158 million (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)
Biggest Weekend Overall (Top 12 Gross): $294.5 million
Previous Record: $266 million (June 12-14, 2015)
Biggest December Weekend (Top 12 Gross): $294.5 million
Previous Record: $259.9 million (Dec 25-27, 2009)
December Single Day: $120.5 million (estimated)
Previous Record: $37.13 million (The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey)
Widest December Opening: 4,134 theaters
Previous Record: 4,045 theaters (The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey)
December Opening Weekend: $248 million (estimate)
Previous Record: $84.62 million (The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey)
Fastest to $100 Million: 1 Day
Previous Record: 2 Days (Jurassic World)
Global IMAX Opening Record: $48 million
Previous Record: $44.1 million (Jurassic World)
Domestic IMAX Opening Record: $30.1 million
Previous Record: $20.9 million (Jurassic World)
Best opening for a “Star Wars” film
(Previous record: “Revenge of the Sith” with $108.4 million)
Biggest opening weekend of all time in U.K., Russia, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Denmark, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Serbia and New Zealand
Cinema attendance in the US and Canada, the world’s largest film market, has barely changed in a decade as online and mobile platforms exploded. “We have so many options for entertainment, yet look at where everyone is flocking this weekend – to the multiplex,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at box office tracking firm Rentrak. “Disney has this down to a science.”
Disney plans four Star Wars movies up to 2019, plus major expansions at its US theme parks to incorporate the droids, spaceships and otherworldly creatures of the universe Lucas invented. Toys, clothing, home accessories and video games already pervade stores ahead of Christmas.
Reuters analysis last week calculated that Disney might be on track to triple its Lucasfilm investment ($4 billion) and earn an average of $669m from the franchise in each of the next six years.
The film’s financial and critical success mark a victory for Disney’s chief executive Bob Iger’s strategy of acquiring proven brands, including Pixar Animation and comic book powerhouse Marvel, to fuel Disney’s entertainment empire.