Even Without China, ‘Star Wars’ Nearly Tops ‘Jurassic World’ On Opening Weekend

Disney bought “Star Wars” producer Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012 and spent more than $200 million to produce ‘Force Awakens’. Astonishing though it is, that is just the second biggest opening weekend globally, behind Jurassic World, which took $US524.9 million on its opening weekend in June.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” matinees are putting the movie on course to top $100 million in North American ticket sales through Friday, giving the picture a good chance to break the $208.8 million opening-weekend record set this summer by “Jurassic World“.

Disney gushed that combined with Friday figures, ticket sales “are pointing to a total day of $100 million+ for a new industry record… and the first triple-digit-million day ever!”

Two million tickets were booked in advance of the film’s release, also setting a new record for advanced ticket bookings in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The current ranking of the top 3 best opening weekends of all time in Canada are Star Wars: The Force Awakens (projected at $17.1MM), followed by Marvel‘s The Avengers ($15.6MM) and Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron ($13.8 MM) in 3rd place.

Overseas, “The Force Awakens” opened to $279 million as it played in every major market except China, India and Greece. The global opening record of $316.1 million and worldwide record of $524.9, both held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, are well within striking distance for the well-oiled Star Wars machine following record debuts in numerous global countries.

Previous to this the film had already broke the Thursday preview record with $57 million, and the biggest single-day box office record on Friday with $120 million. The movie is the the holder of the record for the highest-grossing movie of all time.

The dinosaur blockbuster took in $525 million when it launched, making it the biggest Box Office opening ever.