Star Wars: The Last Jedi is off and running at the box office, and while the high-water mark of The Force Awakens is an incredibly tough bar to clear, it appears as though The Last Jedi will do its best to at least come close to the record-setting performance of J.J. Abrams’ sequel. The Last Jedi pulled in an estimated $45 million in Thursday night preview showings, which is the second-highest domestic preview gross of all time behind The Force Awakens, which hit $57 million in previews. IMAX previews were even closer, as The Last Jedi hit $5.3 million versus The Force Awakens’ IMAX record of $5.37 million.

No doubt the positive reviews bode well for The Last Jedi’s subsequent performance, and indeed that’s what propelled The Force Awakens to its sky-high records. Abrams’ film hit $247.9 million on opening weekend and $936.6 million in total domestic gross, both of which remain unsurpassed.

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Image via Lucasfilm

How high The Last Jedi flies this weekend is unclear. Sequels to massive IP films that open a couple of years after the previous film can sometimes fall a bit short of how the first film did at the box office, since the initial movie has the benefit of a “look-in” audience as folks want to see for themselves if they’re interested in this brand new thing. Analysts have The Last Jedi’s opening weekend pegged at around $200 million. It could secure the #2 spot on the all-time chart if it bests Jurassic World’s $208 million opening, so no doubt all eyes will be on those Friday estimates tomorrow morning.

Internationally the film is also off to a terrific start, having grossed $60.8 million after beginning its international rollout on December 13th. Stay tuned, folks, it’s gonna be a busy weekend. For now, take a look at the current Top 10 opening weekends of all time below.

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens - $247,966,675

2. Jurassic World - $208,806,270

3. Marvel’s The Avengers - $207,438,708

4. Avengers: Age of Ultron - $191,271,109

5. Captain America: Civil War - $179,139,142

6. Beauty and the Beast (2017) - $174,750,616

7. Iron Man 3 - $174,144,585

8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 - $169,189,427

9. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - $166,007,347

10. The Dark Knight Rises - $160,887,295

For more on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, click on the links below:

[caption id="attachment_663322" align="aligncenter" width="600"] star-wars-the-last-jedi-john-boyega-kelly-marie-tran Image via Lucasfilm[/caption] [caption id="attachment_663327" align="aligncenter" width="600"] star-wars-the-last-jedi-kylo-ren-adam-driver Image via Lucasfilm[/caption] [caption id="attachment_660635" align="aligncenter" width="600"] star-wars-the-last-jedi-daisy-ridley-mark-hamill Image via Lucasfilm[/caption]