| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Zoe Aresti |
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was finally released last Thursday and amazingly it has lived up to all expectations. The biggest opening day, the biggest Saturday, the biggest Sunday, the biggest four day opening and the biggest Friday to Sunday opening weekend of all time are just five of the new benchmarks it has set.
In just four days it has grossed £34m, which includes £9.7m on Thursday. Its Friday to Sunday total of £24.3m eclipses Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ record of £23.8m to become the biggest of all time. Saturday saw it gross £8.7m, and remarkably, Sunday was almost as big, delivering £8.6m. It’s already the ninth biggest film of 2015.
Disney has announced Monday takings of £5.83m, which is likewise a record haul for a Monday. The additional box office pushes The Force Awakens to a five-day total of £39.81m.
In November, Spectre’s three-day weekend debut was £19.98m, 18% behind the pace set by The Force Awakens. However, a more generous preview period pushed Spectre’s opening to a bigger £41.30m – a number grossed from nearly a whole week of play.
The science-fiction adventure, topped box office charts around the world as it made £356million ($528m) globally.
It has received rave reviews to reinvigorate the almost 40 year old franchise and is tipped by many to be the first film to make more than £2billion ($3bbn) in ticket sales.
On the opening weekend results, Disney chief executive officer Bob Iger told Bloomberg TV on Monday: “It’s bigger than big. It’s bigger than we thought it would be and China has yet to open. So that’s an incredible weekend.”
The film is the first of an already announced trilogy which will wrap up in 2019, meaning there’s much more for fans to get excited about over the next few years.