REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LONDON -- Star Wars: The Force Awakens has smashed the record for the biggest box office debut weekend globally with tickets sales of 529 million US dollars (355 million euro). The previous record, 525 million US dollars, was set by Jurassic World in June.
The seventh installment of the nearly 40-year-old space saga also opened with a record-breaking 248 million US dollars in the US and Canada. Star Wars has also had the biggest opening day and Saturday receipts in UK and Ireland box office history. With its Sunday takings projected to be 7.5 million euro, it is expected to achieve the largest four-day weekend total in British and Irish cinemas.
JJ Abrams' film grossed 9.6 million euro on Thursday (17/12), including 2.4 million euro from midnight screenings. exceeded the previous best of 9.48 million euro set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in 2011.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens went on to make 8.6 million euro on Saturday in the UK and Ireland. These figures meant it had already overtaken the lifetime totals of several big films, including the first Hunger Games release and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Jurassic World currently holds the record for the largest four-day weekend in the UK and Ireland.
Analysts say the space saga could become the biggest-selling movie of all time. This is despite the fact that Jurassic World's had the advantage of opening in China on the same weekend it opened everywhere else. The Force Awakens, in contrast, will not debut in the world's second biggest cinema-going territory until 9 January.
The latest film returns to "a galaxy far, far away" some 30 years on from the action of 1983's Return of the Jedi. It sees original trilogy stars Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher reprise their Han Solo and Princess Leia roles alongside younger franchise newcomers.
"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, as quoted from BBC.
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