The seventh episode in the Star Wars saga annihilated the record for largest gross in a single day domestically.
On its opening day, Friday December 18, Star Wars: The Force Awakens grossed an estimated $120.5 million domestically, which blows the opening day of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($91 million) out of the water. The rest of the top five single day grosses are made up of Avengers: Age of Ultron ($84.4 million), Jurassic World ($81.9 million), and the first Avengers ($80.8 million) – those grosses were also made on their respective Friday opening days.
The Force Awakens’ Friday gross includes the money made from Thursday evening screenings – which started at 7 p.m., with some theaters continuing showings into the wee hours of Friday morning (a theater near me in Connecticut had screenings starting after 2 a.m.). Force Awakens stole that record from Deathly Hallows – Part 2 as well. Force Awakens made $57 million from its Thursday evening showings, topping the Potter finale’s $43.5 million record-breaking pre-opening day grosses.
It’s worth mentioning that 7 p.m. Thursday evening screenings weren’t around in 2011 when Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was released, so that film’s $43.5 million was entirely made from 12:01 a.m. Friday morning screenings, and any other screenings that could have been held that night.
Disney is expecting a $220 million Fri-Sun opening weekend for Force Awakens, which would steal the opening weekend record from Jurassic World ($208.8 million). Force Awakens already set the record for the largest December opening weekend. The first Hobbit film set the record in 2012 with an $84.6 million opening, which Force Awakens beat in one day. Even adjusting for inflation, Force Awakens still beats Return of the King’s $100.4 million adjusted weekend gross.
Estimated numbers for the weekend arrive Sunday afternoon. In the meantime, read our spoiler-free review of the film where we said, “[screenwriters] Abrams and Kasdan struck that ‘thrill for adventure’ chord that made us so attached to Luke Skywalker and his original journey to reach the stars.”
Thanks to Box Office Mojo and Forbes for the help.
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