Get ready for an influx of Star Wars box office reports, because Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been breaking records since pre-sale tickets went online, and it's showing no signs of slowing down. The Force Awakens shattered its first record with advanced ticket sales, reportedly selling eight times as many tickets than the previous record holder, The Hunger Games, to the tune of $50 million. Earlier today, we reported that the seventh Star Wars installment trampled another record; posting $57 million on opening night and earning the new record for highest Thursday ticket sales (a title previously held by Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Part 2 since 2011).
As you might expect, those kinds of numbers are no fluke, and now The Force Awakens is on track stomp a couple of more records in its opening weekend. Early estimates show that the film is on track to make $100 million on Friday, which make it the first three-digit-millions single day in history. If that's not crazy enough, get this: no December release has ever made $100 million dollars in its opening weekend, let alone in one day. The Hobbit got close with an $86 million opening weekend, and American Sniper grossed $89 when it went wide, but Star Wars is absolutely setting a new bar for December relases.
Disney execs estimate that the film is on track for a $200 million opening weekend, a rather conservative estimate at this point. If they're going to take home the title for the highest grossing opening weekend of all time, and they almost certainly are, Jurassic World's $208 million is the number to beat.
We'll have more updates on The Force Awaken's box office ascension as the news breaks. In the meantime, get caught up on all of our Star Wars: The Force Awakens coverage by perusing some of our recent stories provided at the links below:
- ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens': What Did You Think?
- So, About That Daniel Craig Cameo in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Rumor…
- Oscar Isaac on ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’, His Best and Worst Day on Set, and More
- Watch: The Top 10 Deleted Scenes from the ‘Star Wars’ Original Trilogy
- Daisy Ridley on ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’, Deleted Scenes, and Whether Han Shot First
- Everything You Need to Know about ‘Star Wars: Episode VI’ in under 5 Minutes