Disney’s continuation of the Star Wars universe has beaten several records for highest-grossing movie in the opening weekend. It has grossed an estimated $238 million dollars in the US alone and an estimated $517 million dollars worldwide.
Update Disney says that the movie has beaten Jurassic World's opening weekend record after all with $529 million gross.
The force is strong with this one
In 2012, Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion dollars and announced that they would revive one of the world’s most beloved fictional universes. An astronomical amount but it is starting to look like good business.
With $238 million dollars in the opening weekend, The Force Awakens is the highest-grossing movie in the US ever, beating Jurassic World’s record of $208.8 million. Jurassic World still holds the worldwide record as it grossed $525 million (Star Wars grossed $517 million), but it also opened in China during its premiere. Star Wars will hit China on January 9.
The movie also took home several other records in the US, including biggest single-day gross ($120.5 million), biggest Thursday preview ($57 million), biggest IMAX premiere, and best December premiere. In the US, 3D made up 47% of ticket sales and IMAX accounted for 12%. The seventh Star Wars movie also set opening records in markets such as Australia, Germany, Russia, UK, and many other countries.
The number of tickets was not disclosed and with rising prices for movie tickets the figure could very well be lower than previous releases. The highest-grossing movie to date is Avatar, which made $2.8 billion dollars.
The next Star Wars movie will premiere on December 16, 2016 titled "Rogue One". However, this is a standalone movie, which follows a different story line. Star Wars Episode VIII will debut on May 27, 2017.
- Source: Disney via Variety (1, 2)
