‘Star Wars,’ ‘Jurassic World’ propel US box office to record year

North American box-office sales crossed the US$11 billion (RM47.2 billion) mark, industry researcher Rentrak Corp said yesterday in a statement. The space opera sequel is now nearly guaranteed to surpass Jurassic World’s third-placed total of $1.6bn, especially with a Chinese opening not due until 9 January. “2015 was like a football game, “Star Wars” may have provided a game winning kick at the end of the game, but every film released throughout the year contributed to this record breaking year”.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens made its debut on December 18 and has already set a number of records, will it take the biggest one?

While Disney has to be pleased with the way its $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm is turning out, thanks to the galactic success of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, the man who created the “Star Wars” universe doesn’t feel the same way. “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, “Inside Out”, “Furious 7”, and “Minions” also did their bits to reach these record numbers. That being said, The Force Awakens had something the prequels were missing: a distinct sense of fun. In all honesty I was expecting a lot less from Daddy’s Home so I’m probably even more surprised by this start. “Avatar” is sitting pretty in the top spot at $2.788 billion, and got there off an extended run that lasted weeks and weeks after its debut. Suffice it to say that it’s about as violent as the other Star Wars films. Many dressed up as their favorite Star Wars characters. That’s equivalent to $1.1 billion in today’s money once you account for inflation.

Fox also scored with “Joy”, a rag-tag biopic about the creator of the Miracle Mop, ‘ that earned $17.5 million from 2,896 theaters.

If it’s comic book heroes that you love then don’t miss out on two of cinemas biggest superheroes coming face to face in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice this March and in April it’s time to return to Marvel’s world in Captain America: Civil War.

For added perspective, more than 55 of the box office records tracked by BoxOfficeMojo were broken in 2015… the question is, how many of those will be broken in 2016? Directed by Gareth Edwards, the movie tells the story of a group of rebels who steal the plans for the Empire’s original Death Star seen in “Star Wars IV: A New Hope“.