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Box Office Report: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Posts $238 Million Domestic Opening

With a five-day international debut of $279 million, the latest installment of the ‘Star Wars’ saga directed by J.J. Abrams has taken in $517 million globally.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has set a new all-time domestic debut record with an estimated $238 million. With a five-day international debut of $279 million, the film -- with visual effects provided by VFX powerhouse Industrial Light & Magic under the supervision of Senior VFX Supervisor John Knoll -- has taken in $517 million globally.

“Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers that one-of-a-kind Star Wars experience, and director J.J. Abrams, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, and the Lucasfilm team have outdone themselves,” said Alan Horn, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. “To all of the fans around the world who not only came out in Force to make this such an exciting and astronomical debut but who treated this film as their own and helped preserve the experience for their fellow fans by not spoiling it -- thank you, we do.”

En route to this galactic launch, the film has smashed several all-time domestic box office records, including:

  • Biggest Thursday preview gross with $57 million.
  • Biggest Friday and biggest single-day gross with $120.5 million.
  • First film ever to post a single day over $100 million.
  • Fastest film to $100 million and $200 million.
  • Biggest December debut (nearly three times previous record of $84.6 million).
  • Biggest IMAX Thursday night preview ($5.7 million), single-day ($14 million, Friday), and weekend ($30.1 million).
  • Highest theater average for a wide release ($57,568).

Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuted day-and-date internationally in nearly every market (except Greece and India, which open December 24, and China, which opens January 9) and set records in many.

Highlights:

  • Biggest opening weekend of all time in the U.K. (four-day), Australia, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Poland (three-day), Denmark (five-day), Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Serbia, New Zealand. Second biggest opening weekend in France, Belgium, Israel, Chile.
  • Biggest IMAX global debut of $48 million.

The Force is strong with critics and audiences, whose enthusiastic reactions have powered a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score and an excellent A CinemaScore, with an A+ among women and younger audiences, for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Source: The Walt Disney Studios

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.