‘Star Wars’ passes ‘Avatar’ to rule box office

According to tracker Box Office Mojo, “Gone With The Wind” is the king with US$1.74 billion in domestic ticket sales, when adjusted for inflation.

With a current total sitting at $764.4 million, The Force Awakens has now vanquished the previous record holder, Avatar.

It has also proved an impressive draw internationally, posting the biggest opening weekends in countries including Germany, Australia and Russian Federation.

Earlier this week The Force Awakens was declared the biggest film of 2015 at the United Kingdom box office with the all-time number one record likely to follow.

However, Force Awakens has a long way to go before eclipsing the $2.78 billion earned worldwide by Avatar. Global numbers for Thursday were not released at press time, but THR estimates say it was north of $17 million, passing $1.6 billion worldwide.

This is thanks to the movie successfully earning more than James Cameron’s Avatar, which took in $760.5 million, and they managed to achieve this in just 20 days since its release.

Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University in NY, said the hype and marketing surrounding the latest “Star War” had helped ensure its success but so was the fact that it is a good movie.

“The Force Awakens” has broken record on top of record since opening in mid-December.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is in 21st place behind classics such as “The Sound of Music”, “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial” and “Titanic”.

To beat the global record haul of $2.8 billion for “Avatar”, “The Force Awakens” must play well in China, where it opens on Saturday, box office analysts have said.