‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Achieves Highest Single-day Opening in History

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Director JJ Abrams has revealed that he initially turned down the chance to direct the movie, before a chat with his wife changed his mind.

Disney gushed that combined with Friday figures, ticket sales “are pointing to a total day of $100M+ for a new industry record… and the first triple-digit-million day ever!”

Yes, that’s a record, topping Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 at $91.1 million set on its opening Friday in July 2011. If they’re going to take home the title for the highest grossing opening weekend of all time, and they nearly certainly are, Jurassic World’s $208 million is the number to beat.

The new Star Wars film has already raked in $200 million, and it’s expected to smash opening weekend records, likely making back all the money Disney spent to produce the film by Monday. The movie ticket service Fandango said it has already sold more tickets for “The Force Awakens” than any movie over its entire theatrical run. The combined strength of the box office could break another record: Largest weekend ever.

But movie studio Walt Disney Co says millions of tickets are still available to see the film – which unites the cast from the original trilogy with newcomers – as theaters add capacity to meet demand.

“There a lot of entry points into the series”, observes Alyssa Rosenberg, an obsessive “Star Wars” fan who blogs about pop culture for The Washington Post.

US Press Secretary Josh Earnest speaks to the press in the briefing room at the White House in Washington, DC, on December 18, 2015, accompanied by R2D2 and Storm Troopers.

When the 49-year-old behind The Force Awakens was initially offered the movie by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, he said he felt it was not the right move for him.

Star Wars frenzy has swept the celeb world with anyone and everyone getting involved.

Star Wars collected $120 million on Friday according to estimates. The record is held by Avatar with $US2.8 billion.

Abrams, the movie stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Max Von Sydow.