Disney’s new money machine, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” could break all box-office records for a weekend by the end of Sunday after the film’s opening set the one-day record, taking in an estimated $120 million.
In its first day in theaters across the United States and Canada, the new Star Wars flick broke the previous one-day record of $91 million set by 2011’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II.”
The big haul puts the latest reboot of the “Star Wars” franchise on track to set the all-time record for an opening weekend, currently held by “Jurassic World.” That film opened this summer and took in $208 million in its first weekend, slightly ahead of 2012’s “Marvel’s The Avengers,” which made $207 million in its opening weekend.
“The Force Awakens” is playing on 4,134 screens in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II” opened on 4,375 screens in 2011.
Despite some mixed reviews for the new Star Wars film, theaters were jammed with fans – some of them in costume portraying Stars Wars characters – from the first showing. Some even lined up or camped out for some time in anticipation of the movie opening.
The box-office figures provided by Rentrak measure theater receipts, and do not account for how many tickets are sold.
—City News Service