“Star Wars” headed for $215M+ Box Office record

With a production budget of more than $US200 million, the Walt Disney Co stands to make a considerable profit.

“The Force Awakens” started its US box office run in record-setting fashion with $57 million in Thursday night previews – 31% above the $43.5 million in previews for the final Harry Potter film. The latest Star Wars movie scored an estimated $238 million from opening weekend tickets in the United States alone, beating the previous highest domestic opening weekend total of $208.8 million, set by the Jurassic World earlier this year.

So far, the Disney film has pulled in roughly $130 million worldwide since opening overseas on Wednesday.

Rounding out the eight most-popular movies this weekend, in the US and Canada and as estimated by the studios and Rentrak, were “Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2″ ($5.7 million), “Creed” ($5 million), “The Good Dinosaur” ($4.2 million), “Krampus” ($3.8 million) and “In The Heart Of The Sea” ($3.5 million).

The new Star Wars film is the first instalment in a decade of the series, which was created by George Lucas in 1977. “The Force Awakens” opens in China on January 9.

Internationally, “The Force Awakens” made $279 million, that’s the third highest opening of all time behind “Jurassic World” ($316 million) and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2” ($314 million). Second biggest opening weekend in France, Belgium, Israel, Chile. At the time, mass media and entertainment conglomerate said it would continue producing the Star Wars saga and expand the franchise in the future.

A lot is riding on the film for Disney, which paid $4.06 billion for Lucasfilm in 2012. Even though The Force Awakens blew past all predictions, both Road Chip and Sisters managed to hold their own, as both were expected to debut in the low to mid teens.

The Force Awakens stars veterans Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, along with newcomers Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis and Domhnall Gleeson.