After four weeks ofbox officedomination byThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, Lionsgate’s franchise finale has finally fallen, to what is now the biggest debut of all time byStar Wars: The Force Awakens.Box Office Mojoreports thatStar Wars: The Force Awakenshas taken in an estimated $238 million during its opening weekend, which is more than enough to dethrone Universal’sJurassic Worldrecord of $208.8 million which was set back in June.
The opening weekend record is just one of many box office records thatStar Wars: The Force Awakenshas already broken.Star Wars: The Force Awakensset new marks for highest Thursday preview gross with $57 million, the biggest Friday and single-day gross with $120.5 million, making it the first film ever to earn $100 million in a single day. It also became the fastest movie to reach both the $100 million and $200 million domestic box office milestones, while shattering the December opening weekend gross of $84.6 million. It also set new records for biggestIMAXThursday night preview ($5.7 million), single-day ($14 million, Friday), and weekend ($30.1 million), and the highest per- theater average for a wide release ($57,568).
There is one record it didn’t break, though, whichJurassic Worldwas able to hold on to.Star Wars: The Force Awakensearned $279 million in international territories this weekend, for a worldwideopening weekendtally of $517 million, just behindJurassic World’s mark of $524.9 million.Star Wars: The Force Awakensis just the second movie ever to earn more than $500 million globally in one weekend, behindJurassic World, and its international take of $279 million is the third best of all time, behindJurassic World’s $316.1 million, which includes a whopping $96 million from China, andHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, which earned $314 million in its international opening weekend back in 2011.
Star Wars: The Force Awakenswill introduce three new heroes into theStar Warsuniverse,John Boyega’s Finn,Daisy Ridley’s Rey andOscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron, along withAdam Driver’s villainous Kylo Ren.Mark Hamill(Luke Skywalker),Harrison Ford(Han Solo) andCarrie Fisherare also reprising their iconic roles from the original trilogy, although very little is known about their characters. TheStar Wars: The Force Awakenssupporting cast includesDomhnall Gleesonas General Hux,Lupita Nyong’oas Maz Kanata,Gwendoline Christieas Captain Phasma,Andy Serkisas Supreme Leader Snoke andMax von Sydowas an unidentified character.
Also opening in theaters this weekend was 20th Century Fox’sAlvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chipand Universal’sSisters, which opened in a distant second and third place this weekend, with $14.4 million and $13.4 million, respectively.Star Wars: The Force Awakensopened in 4,134 theaters, the 33rd widest release of all time, withAlvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chipdebuting in 3,653 theaters andSistersarriving in roughly 2,962 theaters.Sisterscurrently sits at a 61%“Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, down from an 87% “Fresh” tally earlier this week, withStar Wars: The Force Awakensposting a 95% “Fresh” rating andAlvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chipopening in “Rotten” territory with 14%. Rounding out the top 5 isThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2with an estimated $5.6 million andCreedwith $5 million.
Rounding out the top 10 isThe Good Dinosaur($4.3 million),Krampus($3.7 million),In the Heart of the Sea($3.4 million) and two surprising foreign films, Dilwale ($1.8 million) and Bajirao Mastani ($1.6 million). Dilwale opened in just 268 theaters, posting an impressive $6,996 per-screen average, with Bajirao Mastani arriving in 304 theaters for a $5,461 per-screen average. Also opening in limited release is Sony Pictures Classics Son of Saul, which is one of the top contenders for the Best Foreign Language Picture at the Oscars this year. The foreign drama took in $38,891 from three theaters for a $12,964 per-screen average. No box office data was released for Lionsgate’sExtraction, Magnolia’s The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun and Well Go USA’sMojin: The Lost Legend. It isn’t known if there are plans to expand them nationwide.
Looking ahead to next weekend, Christmas Day falls on Friday this year, bringing four new movies in wide release, Sony’sConcussionstarringWill Smith, Paramount’sDaddy’s HomestarringMark WahlbergandWill Ferrell, 20th Century Fox’sJoystarringJennifer Lawrence,Bradley CooperandRobert De Niro, and Warner Bros.‘Point Break, starringLuke BraceyandEdgar Ramirez. Paramount’sThe Big Shortwill also expand nationwide on Wednesday, December 23. Opening in limited release is The Weinstein Company’sThe Hateful Eight, which opens with a unique roadshow event before expanding nationwide on December 31, 20th Century Fox’sThe Revenant, set to expand on January 8, and Sundance Selects’ 45 Years.
Pro.BoxOffice.comis also projecting thatStar Wars: The Force Awakenswill earn $790 million during its domestic box office run, which is more than enough to breakAvatar’s all time record of $760.5 million. It’s also completely possible thatStar Wars: The Force AwakensbreaksAvatar’s global record of $2.7 billion as well, but we’ll have to wait and see. Do you thinkStar Wars: The Force Awakenshas a chance to be the biggest movie in cinematic history? Take a look at the top 10 for the weekend of December 18, and check back on Tuesday for next week’s box office predictions.
