Star Wars smashes USA box office record

“Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers that one-of-a-kind Star Wars experience, and director JJ Abrams, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and the Lucasfilm team have outdone themselves”, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said in a statement. Universal’s Jurassic World had been the previous record holder with $524.9 million with its release this past June. On Friday, the flick broke box-office records for the largest single-day opening with over $120 million.

Also debuting at the box office in the top 10 this weekend were four other films, whose numbers seemed miniscule compared to the “Star Wars” hauling.

95% – The film’s score on review site, RottenTomatoes.com.

The film has become fabulously successful, packing in a huge audience over the weekend and producing over $220 million.

But the good news continues for Disney: Iger said Monday that those initial estimates were actually lower than what the company is now tracking, and “The Force Awakens” could wind up with a domestic opening haul of a whopping $247 million – or possibly even higher.

47% – Percentage of the box office total that came from 3-D screenings.

Star Wars earned $30M on 391 IMAX screens in the U.S.

73 – Age of Harrison Ford, who plays the film’s iconic hero, Han Solo. The last “Star Wars” movie in 2005 collected just $9 million there. Disney made an effort to build buzz, placing 500 miniature Stormtroopers at the Great Wall and striking a deal to stream the six earlier “Star Wars” films through video service Tencent.

In this continuation of the Star Wars saga, balance returns to the Force as the First Order, emerging from the ashes of the Empire, clashes with the Resistance, which includes scrappy newcomers as well as heroes from the former Rebel Alliance.