‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Makes Record $40.1 Million on Monday

Of course, this is hardly the first movie to get off to an explosive start; both Marvel’s The Avengers and Jurassic World were, at one point, in the discussion to surpass Avatar. While the BFCA has no ties to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the governing body behind the Oscars), the Critics’ Choice Awards are often a good predictor of what we can expect at the Academy Awards (more so than, say, the Golden Globes).

46 hours, 2 trilogies, 9 showings of THE FORCE AWAKENS, and a Holiday Special, and we can officially announce Jim Braden as our #AlamoJedi THE MARATHON AWAKENS: Star Wars Endurance Challenge victor! You have the underdog – the Resistance – fighting against the tyrannical overlord – the Empire and Darth Vader, as well as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia. At the Star Wars Celebration back in April, Edwards stated that Rogue One will be “grittier” than all of the other Star Wars movies.

But while Disney has been beefing up merchandising ties with China, it still has work to do if “Star Wars” is to truly take root in the country ahead of future installments, said Chen Tao, the head of China fan site StarWarsChina.com.

But analysts note that the huge popularity of “Star Wars”, as well as intense competition from new films, makes it harder to produce an accurate forecast. However, he still earned a much larger amount than his co-stars.

Graced with the best special effects money can buy, The Force Awakens delivers the action it promises, yet it’s also got heart – something curiously lacking in Abrams’ well-made but unmoving Star Trek films (the third is due next summer).

“We put ourselves through hell mentally and physically”, said Braden, who watched the first screening of The Force Awakens with his six-year-old son, Kyle. If the story in The Force Awakens possessed the same kind of depth, it too might have become a classic.

Already, the movie has made a record breaking $238 million dollars in America and Canada alone, with a a close to record breaking $279 million overseas. Then many years later, influenced by greed and corrupted by the Dark Side, Master Lucas made a second trilogy of Star Wars prequels-each one more ostentatious then the last.

“Personally, it’s been three years of feeling privileged to be part of something that’s bigger than all of us”, filmmaker J.J. Abrams told the AP in an interview.

When the first notes of John Williams’ score burst from the speakers, they cheered. “I grew up with Star Wars”.

Incredibly, Jim plans to see The Force Awakens again.