Star Wars: The Force Awakens Sets New Domestic Opening Weekend Box Office Record

All hail the power of the Force. Or at least the power of The Force Awakens.

Even before Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened last Friday, there was already a sense it was going to be huge. Once it earned a record $57 million during its Thursday preview showings, the sky seemed like the limit.

Its Friday box office receipts were also at record amounts, leaving little doubt that it would break the domestic opening weekend record of $208.8 million set by Jurassic World this summer. The only question then became how much higher it would soar in its first three days.

The answer: a lot. The Force Awakens has set a new opening weekend box office record, though until the weekend totals are finalized, its final haul is yet to be determined. Sunday estimates from outlets like Box Office Mojo had the movie around $238 million, but a new projection today from The Hollywood Reporter is calling for $247 million or more.

If THR is correct, that amount would come in at the high end of a range of forecasts from Saturday. It should also help The Force Awakens break the global opening weekend record, also held by Jurassic World, which was $524.9 million. Projections have the latest Star Wars effort squeaking by that total at $528 million, a number made more impressive by the fact that its first weekend international markets did not include China.

Next: When does Star Wars: Episode VIII Come Out?

The only records The Force Awakens failed to wrestle away from Jurassic World in its first three days of release were the marks for the biggest Saturday and Sunday totals, though the guess here is that so many fans going to see the movie Thursday and Friday had something to do with that. More records are almost certainly in the movie’s future, and we’re tracking them all anxiously.