LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17 (UPI) — The new Star Wars sequel has already made more than $100 million at the box office through ticket pre-orders, a new record. The film opens Thursday evening.
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens} has sold more than $100 million in tickets before any audience has paid to see it, sources said. Though the tickets are pre-orders for showtimes through the end of the year, many of those pre-sales are likely for showtimes this weekend.
The latest installment in the highly successful Star Wars franchise is now easily Fandango’s advance ticket sales champ. The film it beat, The Dark Knight Rises, made $25 million in ticket pre-sales.
The $100 million total is also more than twice the pre-sales of Avengers: Age of Ultron, 33 percent more than Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith and 20 percent more than last summer’s Jurassic World.
With those numbers, the new film is projected to make more than $200 million its opening weekend, topping Jurassic World’s $208.4 million opening, which would also be a record.
“The advance ticket sales for ‘Star Wars: The Force’ Awakens’ are beyond what anyone could’ve anticipated, said Disney distribution executive Dave Hollis in a statement. “Let alone for a December release, but with that said, theaters not only have millions of tickets available for this weekend, but they also in most cases have the ability to add shows and screens according to demand.”
The film could surpass Avatar as all-time box office champ, but it will take a unique situation — like the first new Star Wars film in a decade under the new ownership and supervision of Disney — one that is unlikely to be repeated.
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