Star Wars film breaks opening day box office record

57% of Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ haul last night came from 3D screenings, while IMAX screenings broke their own record by earning $5.7 million across 391 screenings, the previous record holder being $3 million.

The early figures suggest “The Force Awakens” is on course to exceed the record domestic opening of “Jurassic World”, which debuted with $208.8 million in June.

However, some projections have “Awakens” making upwards of $220 million by Sunday. It scored the biggest single day and biggest opening day in key markets including the United Kingdom ($14.4 million) and Germany ($7.1 million).

And just showing that no other studio should have stood in its way. The movie opened in 12 worldwide markets on Wednesday. It took in $769,000.

The film had already broken ticket pre-sales records, The Hollywood Reporter said, with more than $100 million worth of tickets sold ahead of The Force Awakens’ release.

Rentrak’s survey of moviegoers showed especially promising reactions with 76% rating “The Force Awakens” at “excellent” along with 19% as “very good”. Greenfield said the success of “Force Awakens” would not offset the impact of subscriber losses at ESPN.

The marketing campaign has triggered plenty of pent-up excitement for the return of Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca and Han Solo, plus the new characters and story line. “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.

A lot is riding on the film for Disney, which paid $4.06 billion for Lucasfilm in 2012. “There would have to be an historic drop not to”, says Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. The film cost about $200 million to make, according to industry estimates.

Strong reviews for the film, which is set 30 years after “Return of the Jedi”, have added to the fervor for “The Force Awakens“.

Lucasfilm Daisy Ridley and John Boyega star in the seventh installment of the “Star Wars” franchise.

“Sisters” will take in about $15 million to $17 million at 2,961 North American theaters this weekend as Universal offers counter-programming for comedy fans.