There was little doubt that Star Wars' return to cinemas would create a massive swell at the box-office but its record-breaking debut has taken even some pundits by storm. It bowed to a staggering $529M, besting the previous record-holder Jurassic World‘s ($524.9M) which had only been set itself this past summer. Star Wars' numbers came from a combined $248M North American release and and an additional $281M international release.
And this weekend it became the fastest film ever to break through the $1billion mark, confirmed on Sunday.Jurassic World did that in a mere thirteen days - it took Star Wars: The Force Awakens only twelve days and with the release still going strong with major repeat business across all demographics and making a major record-breaking impression on IMAX screens as well. At time of writing the film is already the fifth most successful of the year in America, despite its December release and is the fifteenth most successful release of all time - a position that will likely improve in the weeks to come. It is likely to be the most successful film ever in the UK by the turn of the year. It is likely that Avatar's success at the top of the box-office pile could also topple in the longer-term and the sheer presence of The Force Awakens has energised cinema-takings in general, with audiences either seeking alternative-programming or having to make do with other films if Star Wars screenings were sold out over the holidays.
Over-all, despite some justifiable observations that the plot of The Force Awakens runs very close to the story-beats of the original A New Hope, the actual reviews of the latest part of the franchise - originally, of course, created by George Lucas and now directed by J J Abrams - have been largely positive with many praising the newcomers such as Daisy Ridley and John Boyega.
