New Star Wars smashes box office record

But The Force awakens introduces new characters and fresh faces as Disney prepares for a string of new Star Wars films and spin-offs.

Like the throats of Darth Vader’s commanding officers, box office records have been crushed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The global opening record of $316.1 million and worldwide record of $524.9, both held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, are well within striking distance for the well-oiled Star Wars machine following record debuts in numerous global countries.

It’s also said Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now on track to bring in as much as $250 million-$260 million for the weekend, which would blow past Jurassic World’s $208.8 million and The Avengers’ $207.4 million, giving it the best all-time opening weekend ever.

That includes a chart-topping $57 million from fans who flocked to see the first showings on Thursday night.

After just three days in the market the film has overtaken the entire lifetime totals of the first “Hunger Games”, “Amazing Spider-Man 2”, “Prometheus”, “The Martian”, “Transformers” and “Fast & Furious 6”. As Variety notes, the film has already earned more than its reported $200 million production budget, and with school vacations set to start this week, next week’s box office should continue to rake in the tickets. The Force Awakens was also a hit with critics, scoring a near flawless on the site RottenTomatoes.com. The strong reviews and a decades-long affection for the Star Wars franchise are driving interest, said Mr Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at box office tracking firm Rentrak.

Avatar generated $2.8 billion sales worldwide after its release in December 2009. “The Force Awakens” was heading toward a Thursday night-Friday total of more than $120 million domestically, said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney.

The trio of heroes who appeared in the first of the blockbusters in 1977 – smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and her twin brother Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) – are all back and played by the actors that Star Wars first made famous.