New ‘Star Wars’ sets $57 million opening night record

LOS ANGELES | “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has set a new opening night record in the United States and Canada and was poised to become one of the biggest grossing movies ever, industry experts said Friday.

The latest instalment of the highly anticipated space epic raked in $57 million dollars for its opening night Thursday, beating the previous record — $43.5 million — held by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ in 2011.

“This represents a new record for the industry and portends a massive and potentially record-breaking opening day and weekend for the film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, of box office tracker Rentrak.

The “Harry Potter” film holds the all-time record for opening day at $91 million, but the new “Star Wars” is expected to also force it out of that slot.

Overall, “The Force Awakens” has grossed some $130 million dollars worldwide since it opened overseas on Wednesday, setting records in Britain, Germany, Norway and Sweden.

Analysts predict that the seventh instalment of the iconic space saga, which cost Disney an estimated $200 million to produce, could score the biggest opening weekend ever and could even become the biggest film of all time.

The opening weekend record is currently held by “Jurassic World” which premiered earlier this year to $208.8 million at the box office.

As far as all-time box office sales, two films by James Cameron hold the record — “Avatar” ($2.78 billion) and “Titanic” ($2.18).

“The potential for ‘The Force Awakens’ to ultimately break into the $2 billion club worldwide is certainly in the realm of possibility,” Dergarabedian said.

Added Jeff Bock, box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations: “As far as breaking records go, it’s the strongest candidate weve seen in a long, long time.

“It might join the $2 billion club worldwide, and maybe, just maybe, be the highest grossing film of all-time.”

Disney, which bought the rights to the “Star Wars” franchise from its creator Georges Lucas for $4 billion in 2012, has built up the hype around “The Force Awakens,” rolling out a well-orchestrated marketing campaign that has left fans wanting more.

Early reviews of the movie have given it a thumbs up, and three more instalments are due in the coming years.

“The Force Awakens” picks up the intergalactic story of good versus evil 30 years on from “The Return of the Jedi,” the finale of the original trilogy.

The trio of heroes who appeared in the first of the blockbusters in 1977 — smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and her twin brother Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) — are all back and played by the actors that Star Wars first made famous.

The film is being screened in 4,134 theatres in North America, a record for a December opening.

source: interaksyon.com

Harrison Ford returns ‘home’ in new ‘Star Wars’ film

SYDNEY | He has starred as the U.S. president, swashbuckling Indiana Jones and a heroic CIA analyst, but Harrison Ford says it was when he stepped back on the new “Star Wars” set that he really felt at home.

“It felt like being home, to an extent. It felt good. I like to work. It was fun,” the Hollywood legend said in Sydney where he is promoting the hotly anticipated new installment of the franchise, “The Force Awakens”.

The 73-year-old, who was 35 when the first “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope” movie was released in 1977, reunites with original cast members Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) in resuming his role as Han Solo.

Ford said while Solo was “much the same in aspect”, new elements of his character would be revealed in the latest addition to the saga, directed by J.J Abrams.

“Well there’s a bit of story that’s been invented that I think is very satisfactory that allows the audience to have an understanding of the — of how the time’s been passed between — in relationships of characters,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“And then it produces an emotional context which is really very useful. So, Han Solo is much the same in aspect, but if you were to cut through the trunk, you’d see a lot more rings in the tree.”

The veteran — also renowned for headlining the “Indiana Jones” franchise — said he enjoyed working with Abrams, who chose to build plenty of physical sets rather than heavily utilise computer-generated imagery.

“Certainly there are a lot of effects shots which are populated with computer effects. But, having a physical set really is of great advantage for not just the actors who don’t have to pretend that they’re in a place that they’re not,” Ford said.

“I find that it adds a lot to the reality context,” he added in the interview late Wednesday, referring to the ability to experiment with physical sets.

Ticket pre-sales in Australia for “The Force Awakens” has exceeded all previous records, cinema chain Event Cinemas said, including those set by “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2″, “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2″ and “The Avengers”.

The movie is released globally next week.

source: interaksyon.com