What happens when a marketing machine that rivals the Death Star has a product that meets or even exceeds the hype? Record box offices. Star Wars: The Force Awakens obliterated Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2’s early open record of $43 million with a $57 million Thursday night performance, and now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, The Force Awakens has set another record. Episode VII will bring in over $130 million this Friday. Industry pundits are projecting over $225 million for the weekend, but it seems like they might be struggling to keep up with the cash chute that is pouring into the Spaceship Earth ball at Epcot presently.
Is Star Wars VII poised to become the highest grossing film of all time, outpacing Avatar? Anything is possible but the next pin to knock down is Jurassic World‘s $208 opening weekend record — a figure that Star Wars was almost halfway towards thanks to advanced tickets. And that doesn’t even include the film’s performance overseas.
“Abrams’ film is also smashing records overseas, where it has amassed a stunning $72.7 million in its first two days for a global tally of nearly $130 million. It scored the biggest single day and biggest opening day in key markets including the U.K. ($14.4 million) and Germany ($7.1 million).
In case you’re wondering, the film already topped the opening weekend for a Star Wars film today, so everything is just gravy in that respect as The Force Awakens doubtlessly marches toward becoming the highest grossing Star Wars film in history. That is until the spinoff movies start rolling in and America rediscovers their love for Lobot and Lando in, Star Wars: Among The Clouds.
Guess that $4 billion dollar initial investment that Disney made in LucasFilm is paying off.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)
