The movie that brings nostalgia to 40-something movie-goers, “Star Wars” has launched across the nation, with a big bang last week on Thursday, Dec. 17. Even before fans could guess, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” opens when?, droids and fighters from the “dark side" were highly anticipated on the round-the-clock screenings. The film is may not be the "most anticipated" film, but it is not far from theater turnouts for the 1939 all-time-favorite, “Gone With the Wind.”
Disney’s estimates reveal ticket sales were approximately $57 million when "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" opened in North America. That figure jumped to $72.7 million in world-wide sales on Wednesday, total global box-office receipts at $130 million this weekend.
About $5.7 million of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," when it opened in North America came from 3-D screens, while 47% of national sales were from bigger IMAX screens.
“I came on opening night because I really, really, really did not want the plot spoiled before I had the chance to see it,” said Andrew Toscano, 24, a paralegal who turned up in full Jedi regalia at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 in Manhattan, said The New York Times.
According to analysts, The ”Star Wars: The Force Awakens” could turn out to be the highest grossing movie in Hollywood history. It is also the first “Star Wars” movie in a decade. The best-selling moving of all-time is “Avatar,” taking in $3.1 billion.
Inquirer reported, that more than 500,000 people pre-booked tickets in France for the two-and-a-half-hour film, going back to the origin’s of the storyline. Some die-hard "Star Wars" fans flew to France to catch a glimpse of the movie before it opened in the U.S.
"That’s totally unheard of,” Emmanuel Delesse, the boss of the country’s biggest cinema chain, UGC, told AFP via Inquirer.
“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,” Dave Hollis, Disney’s head of distribution, said Friday in a statement.
However, there was caution among movie-goers after the Paris and San Bernardino shootings. Theaters were on high security and banned “Star Wars”weapon. Hundreds of people who came to witness when“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,”opens, were evacuated from theaters on false alarms,” reported The New York Times
