J.J. Abrams Initially Turned Down Star Wars

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

Star Wars: “The Force Awakens” reaped a record-breaking US$57 million in USA and Canadian ticket sales on its opening night, propelled by critical praise and the fervour of fans eager to see the celebrated film franchise’s first instalment in a decade.

The box office earnings of The Force Awakens are the highest opening night ever by a film.

Since beginning its overseas rollout Wednesday, “The Force Awakens” has made an estimated $129.5 million internationally. J chose to take a chance on Episode 7 and he can now say he helmed the film with the biggest opening day in United Kingdom box office history.

Most directors would jump at the chance of directing a Star Wars movie, but JJ Abrams said “no” when he was offered the film the first time because he did not want to be seen as “the guy who does sequels”. The previous one-day high was $91.1 million set by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” in 2011.

The film opened in dozens of countries this week, but won’t hit the world’s second-largest film consuming market – China – until January 9. According to Disney The Force Awakens will earn more than $200 million in ticket sales this weekend.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has already brought in $57m (£38m) upon its release in the USA and Canada.

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

The characters were present for a screening organised by Michelle Obama for children of families with lost members to war.

This is The Force Awakens, but I suspect I am preaching to the converted. The record is held by “Avatar” with US$2.8 billion.

President Barack Obama began a year-end news conference Friday noting, “Clearly, this is not the most important event that’s taking place in the White House today”.