‘Star Wars’ overtakes ‘Jurassic World’ for biggest global debut

The smart folks at Disney had a hunch that Star Wars: The Force Awakens would obliterate the box office its opening weekend – because they paid the actors VERY handsomely!

“You’ve got a lot of big movies on the way for Disney in general”, said Dergarabedian, giving “Finding Dory” and “Captain America: Civil War” as examples.

That would beat the record opening weekend sales of $525 million that dinosaur film “Jurassic World” garnered earlier this year in its worldwide release, including in China.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is now in cinemas. James Cameron’s fantasy epic actually opened slower than numerous highest-grossing films behind it on the list, but had long legs and awards buzz benefited it, giving it a new life long after its opening weekend.

$48.9 million – The film’s opening box office in the United Kingdom.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has become big.

63% – Percentage of this weekend’s audience who were over the age of 25.

Other records the film broke include the largest single-day gross with $120 million, the biggest Thursday preview with $57 million, and the best December debut ever. Harrison Ford returns to the role of Han Solo and convincingly plays the character 30 years older rather than trying to impersonate his younger self.

“Jurassic World” producer Frank Marshall tweeted out the following image congratulating the cast and crew of “Star Wars” for besting the dinos at the box office.

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2”, the fourth and last movie in the blockbuster franchise that turned Jennifer Lawrence into a Hollywood megastar, earned $5.7 million, falling to fourth place in its fifth week in theaters. It’s not anything to do with the story; it’s just seeing your character’s name consistently coming up in a script for a film that is “Star Wars”!

Isaac is now expected to appear in Star Wars: Episode VIII, although that’s not been confirmed.