Kevin McCarthy’s spoiler-free review of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’

It was a pretty safe bet that Star Wars: The Force Awakens would be breaking a fair amount of box office records, so as expected, the Disney/Lucasfilm came out swinging.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has proved the hype was all worth it. The most anticipated movie of the decade is finally here and it has not disappointed.

That number blasted the record for the biggest pre-opening in box office history held by “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2”, which made $43.5 million on its opening night in 2011. The trade paper Variety estimates box office receipts at more than $50 million for showings that began Thursday evening and have been running ever since.

The seventh Star Wars movie – which generated hundreds of sold-out shows and thousands of fans showing up in costume – was so powerful that it grossed about 70 times the amount taken in Thursday night by previews of Universal’s Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy “Sisters”, which drew $769,000 at 2,220 theaters.

Devoted… Fans emerge from a screening on opening night of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.

If social media is anything to go by, The Force Awakens is already way out ahead of Jurassic World. However, Jurassic World opened in China on its first weekend, something that won’t happen for The Force Awakens until 9 January.

Walt Disney – which acquired the franchise’s original producer Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012 – spent $200 million producing the latest installment.

But FOX 5 News Morning anchor Steve Chenevey, who also saw the movie, recommended watching previous “Star Wars” films before seeing this one to avoid getting lost. Worldwide sales reached $US72.7 million ($10.1 million) through Thursday, Disney said. The film raked in a whopping $57 million on its debut.

Fox is attempting to draw younger children this weekend with “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip”.