Star Wars set for record $220-million weekend

During that opening weekend, “Jurassic World” earned some million at the Chinese box office. The seventh instalment of the sci-fi saga is clearly a force to be reckoned with.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens made its way across the global landscape (except for China) this weekend to post an fantastic estimated $517 million global gross.

The media giant’s DIS, -3.83% $4 billion bet that it could revive the “Star Wars” franchise for a new generation paid off this weekend as its first movie, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, opened to an estimated $238 million in the USA and Canada.

Overseas, Force Awakens also made history in a number of Key markets, including the UK., Germany, Australia, and Russian Federation, and IMAX’s worldwide debut was a record $17.9-M for a global launch of $48-M. The movie reportedly raked in more than $100 million in pre-sales before its early Thursday night opening, and when the final theatrical trailer was played during Monday night football on ESPN, it was subsequently viewed more than 128 million times over a 24-hour period.

At that rate, the long-awaited space epic is poised to out-earn Universal’s reboot, “Jurassic World”, which broke the record for the biggest domestic opening by selling $208.8 million in tickets in June.

It had pulled in US$120.5 million by last Friday, its first full day in North American theatres, the highest single-day ticket sales ever.

The Force is certainly with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Standing next to his wife, who was decked out in a R2-D2 hoodie, Chris Barreno was getting ready Saturday for his second viewing of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at a theater in in El Segundo, Calif.

A lot is riding on the film for Disney, which paid $4.06 billion for Lucasfilm in 2012.

The latest film returns to “a galaxy far, far away” some 30 years on from the action of 1983’s Return of the Jedi. “It’s just a ideal storm of Star Wars enthusiasm”. Disney said that 47 percent of the Thursday box office came from 3-D showings and $5.7 million from Imax screens. Even though The Force Awakens blew past all predictions, both Road Chip and Sisters managed to hold their own, as both were expected to debut in the low to mid teens.