‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Scores Record-Setting $238 Million Weekend

Director J.J. Abrams, who successfully reinvigorated the “Star Trek” franchise, worked his magic with “Star Wars”, simultaneously returning the space saga to its roots while giving it a modern, physical feel. It breaks the $91.1 million mark set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in 2011, and the new Star Wars is the first movie to surpass $100 million in a single day.

“Star Wars” premiered Monday in Hollywood, California, during a star-studded red carpet event, and the film begins trickling into theaters Thursday night prior to Friday’s full-force North American release.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has failed to make Box Office history.

Globally, “The Force Awakens” has taken in $517 million, according to estimates made by its production company, Walt Disney Co. That total does not include receipts from China, the world’s second-largest movie market, and China’s absence is a major reason why global box office receipts for “The Force Awakens” failed to top those of “Jurassic World”. 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opened to $84 million -the previous record for biggest December opening- and went on to earn $303 million by the end of its run in April 2013.

So now what? Just as it was hard to predict The Force Awakens’ opening weekend, it’s also hard to predict what it’ll do from here.

One big reason? Star Wars hasn’t opened in China yet, where Jurassic World made US$99 million (S$140 million) during its opening weekend.

It is also the first movie to cross $100 million in one day in North America. Because of the holidays, movies opening in December usually see a smaller debut but much, much bigger multiples.

Such a showing is on par with the palpable anticipation demonstrated by fans and the movie theater industry ahead of the release.

The latest film, which some analysts expect to gross more than $2 billion, stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac.

Meanwhile the battle for second place came down to the other new releases, and “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip” took the spot with $14.4 million, while “Sister” came in third with $13.4 million.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens'” dominance was a foregone conclusion.