Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew in “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” (2015) Photo Courtesy Lucasfilm / The Hollywood Archive
Yes indeed, the pre-release hype really paid off in spades for the Star Wars Universe. J.J. Abrams’ movie earned an estimated record-breaking $120.5 million on Friday, beating the final ‘Harry Potter’ film to score the biggest single day of all time and making North American box office history in the process. Opening day was also enough to break the previous December opening weekend record of $84.62 million set by “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” in 2012.
Taking in an estimated $247 million domestically in its first three days domestically, according to Walt Disney Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Bob Iger per the LA times, is no easy feat, considering that pre-Christmas films aren’t known for big openings. That’s 14 percent ahead of “Jurassic World” historic $208.8 million launch this summer.
Iger stated Monday, “It’s bigger than big. It’s bigger than we thought it would be,” “And China has yet to open. So that’s an incredible weekend. And I must say it’s higher than we said yesterday.” Disney had estimated a domestic total of $238 million and a gross of $279 million overseas for a global tally of $517 million and it had appeared to come up shy of the global record estimates. Iger’s announcement changed all that.
Let’s break down some of the Box office records per Box Office Mojo for the history-making debut of J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the iconic sci-fi franchise.
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: $238 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: $238 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: $238 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)
** Holiday is defined as the first Friday in November through New Year’s week or weekend.
Disney is reveling in the box-office numbers which seem to justify the purchase of Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012. A string of “Star Wars” movies are in the works and are expected to also generate huge returns as well as other business endeavors including television, toys, video games and theme parks.