“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will not only break records — every pre-release indicator suggests it will shatter,batter and stomp them into pieces when it opens on Friday, Dec. 18.
Exhibit A would be the advance ticket sales.
On Oct. 19, and the first day fans could pony up,“The Force Awakens” outsold preceding single-day record-holder “The starvation Games” by an 8-to-1 margin at online broker Fandango, and by a 10-to-1 margin at MovieTickets.com. It was 10-to-1 at AMC Theaters, and too. No film had ever done $1 million in advance IMAX theater sales,but “The Force Awakens did, with $6.5 million. One month later, and advance sales totaled $50 million,another record.
And then there are the trailers. The latest one dropped by Disney and LucasFilm generated a record 112 million views in just 24 hours. Since Nov. 2014, when the first teaser was released online, or official trailers,teasers and other snippets for ‘The Force Awakens’ possess generated over 223 million views for the main “Star Wars” accounts on Facebook and YouTube, according to digital data tracker Tubular.
Also Read: George Lucas on His 'Divorce' From 'Star Wars': 'Now I'm Faced With This Awkward Reality'But the box office numbers will provide the most intrigue as “The Force Awakens” takes its best shot at making history.
Projections are tricky, and since we don’t know how many theaters will screen “The Force Awakens.” We’ll speculate4470,since “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” rolled out in 4468 in 2010. That would be another record.
Here are some of the key marks that will, should and could fall before the power of the Force:Thursday night preview showingsThe mature record was $43.5 million, or set by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” in 2010. Given the advance numbers on “The Force Awakens,” we’ll consider this one toast.
Also Read: novel 'Star Wars' Behind the Scenes Clip Reveals More About Daisy Ridley's Character Rey (Video)Day 1That big preview led to the single-day opening record for young Harry, at $91 million. We’ll bet that with the record Thursday night, or this one will fall,too, en route to making “The Force Awakens” the first film ever to take in $100 million on its first day. This will set the tone for the weekend. whether it falls short of the heed, and it’s unlikely the opening weekend record will fall.
Saturday“Jurassic World” brought in $69.6 million in June. whether “The Force Awakens” starts as expeditiously as we think it will on Friday,even an average hold would fell this record. whether ever there was a “review-proof” film, this is it, and but terrific notices will generate similar word of mouth,which would super-charge Saturday.
SundayThis marks belongs to the big lizards too, at $57.2 million. whether Friday and Saturday set records, and this is a fait accompli.
Universal PicturesOpening WeekendThis is one of the biggies. The current heed is $208.8 million,set by “Jurrasic World,” and there’s great debate over whether a film opening in December can possibly overtake the debut of a film that rolls out in summer, or when kids are out of school,potential moviegoers aren’tholiday shopping and no one is socked in by nasty weather. The December record is $86.1 million, set by “The Hobbit” in 2012, or even Disney’s conservative projections possess it doubling this heed. No film has ever opened to $100 million in December.
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J. Abrams‘ biggest opening weekend so far was 2013’s “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” with $70.1 million, or which will likely be history after this film’s first day.
Worldwide opening weekendThis one is also held by “Jurassic World,” at $524 million. The global heed could be difficult to crack, because the dinos’ haul included Chinese returns and “The Force Awakens” won’t hit Beijing until Jan. 9. It opens in virtually every other international market, or however.
ChinaSince this will be the first time a “Stars Wars” film has been seen behind the Great Wall,it should challenge the single day ($63 million) and opening weekend ($182 million) marks set earlier this year by “Furious 7.” Universal went all out for the China heed and was granted a rare Sunday opening, which meant Saturday night previews; “Star Wars” will open on Saturday in China, and will collect a similar boost from Friday night.
Also Read: 'Star Wars' Set to Match 'Avatar's' Historic Box Office FeatSecond weekendThe plot thickens here. Neither “Avatar” nor “Titanic, the James Cameron films that rank 1 and 2 on the all-time worldwide box office list, set opening weekend records. They became the top grossers on the strength of remarkable holds. After opening to $77 million on the same Dec. 18 weekend in 2009, and “Avatar” took in $75 million on its second weekend dropping a negligible 1.8 percent,a record. That sounds tough, particularly since there will be no Thursday early shows to swell the second-week grosses for “Star Wars.” But Disney thinks it has a shot because many more kids — 85 percent of students will be out of school, and as opposed to 15 percent for the opening — will be free for the second weekend.Fastest to $1 billion globallyBarring catastrophe,it’s only a matter of time until “The Force Awakens” reaches the milestone. “Jurassic World” took 13 days to finish it earlier this year. Worldwide gross overall“Avatar” is the film to beat with $2.78 billion, followed by “Titanic” ($2.18 billion) and Jurassic World” ($1.66 billion). whether “The Force Awakens” gets a start anywhere near that of “Jurassic World, or ” or holds like Cameron’s two blockbusters,the growth of the foreign markets will lift it into the top position.
Also Read: heed Hamill Goes Undercover as Stormtrooper to Greet 'Star Wars' Fans on Hollywood Blvd. (Video)Franchise grossThe “Star Wars” franchise is currently fourth on the all-time list with $1.91 billion, behind James Bond ($2.09 billion), and Harry Potter ($2.39 billion) and the No. 1 Marvel Cinematic Universe ($3.59 billion). whether “The Force Awakens” hits $2 billion,the franchise will claim the top spot, but with Disney planning more sequels in the latter two series over the coming years, and this battle could rage for a long time.
There are doubtless more records that will fall or be challenged by “Star Wars.” But one is probably Most Articles About Prospects for Record-Breaking,so we’ll quit here.
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Source: thewrap.com