Star Wars: The Force Awakens has overwhelmed the box office this holiday season, so it’s an easy pick for the top 5 stories.
The Lead Up
Force Awakens didn’t start a couple of weeks ago. The path to the movie has been one over several months. With trailers, merchandise, and general fan hype, the movie was bound to be a smash hit from the get go. Though the first trailer didn’t premier in 2015, a very significant one premiered at Star Wars Celebration in April. This second trailer had three words that brought some to tears: “Chewie…We’re home!” To see Han Solo and Chewbacca have a scene in the new Star Wars made every fan’s day.
But, that was not the only trailer to hit theaters and the web. Back in October, a huge trailer premiered to not just introduce more footage, but it also kicked off pre-sale of tickets for the “midnight” premiers. Shown during Monday Night Football, this trailer also had a Disney location to watch. At Downtown Disney in Anaheim a crowd gathered around a large screen to watch the new trailer, while people got in line to purchase tickets at the movie theater nearby. It was an amazing synergy of fans.
Trailers weren’t the only way to lead up to the movie. A special merchandise premier day called Force Friday brought several to purchase items at many store locations including Target, Toys R Us, and even the World of Disney stores at their respective locations. At midnight, fans could be one of the first to purchase merchandise pertaining to Force Awakens, including a certain BB-8 that still has everyone talking.
Throughout the year the appetite of fans was whetted with all of these ways of leading up to the biggest premier of a movie so far…
The Movie
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has had a tremendous opening. Before the premier there were estimations of $100 million in ticket sales for the first weekend! This was when tickets first went on sale in October! Online ticket sales shut down several movie theater sites, which showed the demand was not anticipated. Browsers kept refreshing to find that theaters were sold out within minutes. But, these theaters realized the demand and decided to open more screens for the showing on Thursday, December 17.
Then the day arrived. People lined up a day before at least. Many talked about it all day. When the day was over, Force Awakens set a “preview” record of $57 million, then set another record for $119 million in its actual premier day. In one weekend it set the all-time record. In just 2 days short of two weeks, it has the number 4 spot for all time box office sales domestically. It has reached over $1 billion worldwide, and it’s still yet to be released in China!
This is no ordinary movie. Some fans have been waiting for this movie for almost their whole life. Others have hopped on board within 2015 to be huge Star Wars fans, and to find their love growing even more with Force Awakens. This is a momentous movie with huge momentum going for it!
So, if this is such a huge event in 2015, what is left? Find out tomorrow! And, check out our previous coverage of Force Awakens below where you can relive the release of the two big trailers.
