“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” hits several box office records

“We’re making sure there are numerous daily showtimes for “Star Wars” available at all of our locations across the country”, said Mark Zoradi, CEO of Cinemark Holdings Inc., one of the largest exhibitors.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has proved the hype was all worth it. The most anticipated movie of the decade is finally here and it has not disappointed.

Everyone knows that the new Star Wars is going to make a lot of money.

Such an outcome would surprise few analysts, but the numbers were nevertheless eye-popping. Global sales reached $72.7 million through Thursday, Disney said.

The JJ Abrams-directed seventh instalment in the franchise George Lucas created and launched in 1977 took $27.2 million in Australian cinemas between its first screening to a paying audience at midnight Wednesday to the last sessions beginning before midnight on Sunday.

The previous domestic opening record-holder was Jurassic World which opened this summer to $208.8 million.

Disney’s biggest worry has been that moviegoers will be too daunted by sold-out shows and long lines. The movie opens in US theaters on Friday, Dec. 18, 2015.

“The Force Awakens” opened this weekend in virtually every major market except Greece, India and China, where it will debut on January 9.

Disney also boosted its Friday estimate from at least $100 million in the early afternoon to $120 million by the late afternoon – smashing the opening day record of $91 million for 2011’s “Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows: Part 2”.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has set a new box office record. “The Force Awakens” ran at 4,134 screens in North America, compared with 4,274 for “Jurassic World” and 4,349 for “The Avengers”. Even Avengers: Age Of Ultron only earned $3 million at iMax screenings.

Forty-seven percent of Thursday’s domestic ticket sales came from 3D tickets, Disney said.

Disney’s $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm nearly looks like a bargain now.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens returns to “a galaxy far, far away” 30 years after the action in the Return of the Jedi from 1983.