New Star Wars Movie Sets Fist Day Box Office Record

“We are obviously very encouraged by the record-breaking pre-sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, Dave Hollis, the executive vice president of distribution at Disney, said in a statement.

The U.S. opening day record was previously held by “Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows: Part 2”, which raked in $91 million when it bowed in 2011.

Walt Disney Co. spent $200 million to produce Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was directed, co-written, and co-produced by J.J. Abrams. Anything is possible but the next pin to knock down is Jurassic World’s $208 opening weekend record – a figure that Star Wars was nearly halfway towards thanks to advanced tickets.

A cosplayer in a Darth Vader costume serves up popcorn at the opening-night screenings of “Star Wars: Episode 7 – The Force Awakens” in Las Vegas. Given the pent-up fan demand and the intense marketing, Disney had estimated that the movie would break the $100 million mark at the USA box office on its opening day.

The film began its worldwide rollout Wednesday and has grossed $72.7 million overseas so far, bringing its global cumulative box office to $130 million.

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. Costumed, lightsaber-wielding fans have lined up around blocks, from Jakarta to Paris, to be among the first to see “The Force Awakens” (and hopefully avoid any spoilers from its intensely guarded plot). The mass media and entertainment conglomerate expected the movie to collect another $60 million in ticket sales from domestic box office on Saturday.

In other box office news, from a galaxy much closer to home, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip opened to $14.4 million and an A- CinemaScore.

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

Globally, The Force Awakens has taken an estimated $US517 million ($A720 million), according to boxofficemojo. While newcomers include Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Lupita Nyong’O.