Star Wars posts record opening weekend in North America

Like the throats of Darth Vader’s commanding officers, box office records have been crushed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Star Wars does not share the same universal popularity as other films in certain key markets around the world, such as China.

That falls short of the dinosaurs’ global opening weekend record of $316.1 million and their record for a worldwide – that is foreign and domestic grosses combined – opening weekend of $524.9 million within range.

Last Saturday’s receipts were expected to total US$60 million, Disney said.

“Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers that one-of-a-kind Star Wars experience, and director JJ Abrams, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, and the Lucasfilm team have outdone themselves”, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said in a statement. It also earned a 95 percent fresh rating from RottenTomatoes. Additionally, when Disney debuted the final theatrical trailer during a “Monday Night Football” game on ESPN that coincided with the tickets going on sale online, the trailer was viewed 128 million times in 24 hours.

“Star Wars” now rules the box office galaxy. On Twitter, the movie was mentioned roughly 2 million times on Thursday alone, making it the most tweeted-about movie ever, according to social media analytics firm Union Metrics. Many hard-core fans wanted to see the first new “Star Wars” movie in a decade, and the first featuring original stars such as Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher in 32 years, as soon as possible.

“When you cue up all the footage and things that were shown, it’s really not a lot of the film, and I think that’s what makes it incredibly special”. There are probably plenty of repeat viewings happening among fans, but The Force Awakens may not have the staying power of Avatar or Titanic, the films that have the top two spots in both the domestic and worldwide box office charts.