Star Wars Breaks All-Time Box Office Record Before It Even Opens

Those still wondering whether ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ will top other cinematic behemoths like 'Avatar’ or 'The Avengers’, take note.

The movie has already smashed the all-time box office record for pre-sales a full month before it has opened at cinemas.

Figures coming in show that it’s already sold $50 million worth of tickets – about £32 million – with a third of those tickets for IMAX screenings.

Put into context, the previous ticket pre-sales record belonged to 'The Dark Knight Rises’, which made £16 million before it opened back in 2012.

It’s now thought that the sequel could cruise into the highest-grossing movie of all time slot once it’s released on December 17.

But there are a few other records to beat before that.

'Jurassic World’ set the benchmark for the biggest opening weekend ever, making $208.8 million in the US over the summer.

Prior to that, it was 'Avengers Assemble’ in 2012 which held the opening record, at $207 million.

It’s thought that 'The Force Awakens’ could bust $250 or $300 million.

But whether it will beat 'Avatar’s $2.7 billion haul (more like $3 billion with inflation) will depend on how the movie does in other territories like China and Russia, where the movie franchise is much less of a cultural phenomenon.

The first movie was only shown in China for the first time this year.

But with the release happening at Christmas – meaning more leisure time for folk to head to the cinema – and other demographic factors at play, the odds are certainly in its favour.

According to the Wall Street Journal, analysts are expecting all manner of people to see the movie, from hardcore fans and casual moviegoers who rarely visit the multiplex to elderly people who remember the first movie’s release in 1977 and will take grandchildren.

Either way, it sounds like Disney got a bargain buying Luscafilm for $4 billion…

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Image credits: Lucasfilm