Star Wars: The Force Awakens box office is headed for a $100 million+ on the first day alone!
UPDATE: Walt Disney Pictures says that estimates now have Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the $120 million+ range for Friday (including the $57 million Thursday preview gross reported earlier) and $215 million+ through Sunday. Exhibitors continue to add screens and shows to meet this unprecedented demand. The original post follows…
Following the $57 million preview gross reported earlier, Walt Disney Pictures says that today’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens box office from matinees are pointing to a total day of $100 million+ for a new industry record (topping the previous $91.1 million high set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in July 2011) and the first triple-digit-million day ever!
Disney thinks that the Lucasfilm release appears to be headed for $200 million+ through Sunday and there is a great possibility that the Force Awakens box office will hit the all-time weekend record (currently $208.8 million, posted by Jurassic World in June).
About the Force Awakens box office projections, Dave Hollis, EVP Distribution at Disney, said: “We are obviously very encouraged by the record-breaking presales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but there are literally millions of tickets available for this weekend, and exhibitors have a lot of flexibility in terms of capacity and increasing the number of shows based on demand.”
Amy Miles, CEO at Regal Entertainment Group, adds: “This holiday season we are excited to be a part of the highly anticipated release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. At Regal, we are passionate about providing exceptional moviegoing experiences including offering a wide variety of showtimes to meet our guests needs. With the increased demand for Star Wars, we will continue to add showtimes to accommodate the avid fans that have been eagerly awaiting the seventh film in this blockbuster series.”
Mark Zoradi, CEO of Cinemark, says: “Moviegoers have been looking forward to Star Wars: The Force Awakens for months, and Cinemark is thrilled to bring this incredible experience to our guests this weekend. We’re making sure there are numerous daily showtimes for Star Wars available at all of our locations across the country where fans will have many, many options — including 3D and XD — for an out-of-this-world adventure.”
Elizabeth Frank, AMC, Chief Content and Programming Officer, says: “You can’t get any broader than this movie when it comes to audience appeal, and this weekend and beyond AMC will offer consumers the opportunity to enjoy STAR WARS however they would like – evening, midnight or morning, IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 2D or 3D, big cities and small towns, even corporate events and children’s birthday parties. And there are plenty of tickets available for them all.”
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, and features a new generation of swashbuckling heroes and shadowy villains, as well as the return of fan-favorite smugglers, princesses, and Jedi.
Directed by J.J. 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. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk are producing with Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan & J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt. You can watch all the previously-released trailers and TV spots for the film by clicking here.
How high do you think the Force Awakens box office will go? Give us your Force Awakens box office predictions in the comments below!
