In case you may have missed it, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is huge. So, huge in fact, that over the New Years Day holiday, the revamp of the beloved space saga didn’t just blow away the competition but also jetted past the second and third highest grossing films of all time at the domestic box office. Those films happen to be Jurassic World (released just this past summer) and James Cameron’s Oscar-winning 1997 epic Titanic. Just, you know, business as usual.
It’s estimated that The Force Awakens earned a mighty $35 million on January 1st for a total gross thus far of $687 million. Most insanely, the record–setting (and clearly fan approved) reboot opened just fifteen days ago. That means repeat business over the lucrative holiday period was alive and well. More importantly, the J.J. Abrams-directed flick stepped over Jurassic World and sank the Titanic all in one day, becoming the second biggest seller (unadjusted for inflation) at the North American box office. Jurassic World earned $652 million this summer and Titanic amassed $658 domestically.
With The Force Awakens projected to stand at approximately $745 million domestically by Sunday, the film will most likely become the ultimate champ- dethroning Avatar (also directed by James Cameron) and it’s mighty top selling $760 million- sometime on Monday. Avatar opened the same weekend as The Force Awakens in December 2009 and has held the record for the highest grossing film (domestically and worldwide) since late winter 2010. Star Wars looks to lead in just 18 days of release, asking the question, just how high can The Force Awakens soar?
The North American box office record is a given and a billion dollar gross worldwide is already in the bank, yet The Force Awakens still needs to carry on a bit further to become the highest grosser worldwide. Avatar, Titanic and Jurassic World still hold the top three spots. Avatar‘s overall take of $2.7 billion is a daunting feat, but may all be but certain for Ren, Finn and company in the coming weeks.
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