If you’re one of the many, many people who secured their early tickets for Disney’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, you’re contributing towards an unprecedented box office record. According to official figures published late last night, J.J. Abrams’ galactic sequel has already pulled in $50 million in advanced ticket sales, breaking past a record previously held by Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games franchise.
Exhibitor Relations Tweeted out the news, noting that The Force Awakens‘ pre-emptive box office haul is now two times the amount of the previous record, with Disney surely setting its sights on a bigger opening weekend than $208 million.
[zerg]That’s because, earlier this year, Universal’s box office-shaking Jurassic World debuted to a thunderous $208 million during its opening weekend, quickly becoming the biggest opening of any theatrical release in history. Can Star Wars top such an impressive feat? It’s certainly well on its way.
THE FORCE AWAKENS has already sold $50M in advance ticket sales, 2x what original HUNGER GAMES did in pre-sales. $208M…is the # to beat.
— Exhibitor Relations (@ERCboxoffice) November 20, 2015
As The Wall Street Journal explains, those figures encompass both regular tickets and IMAX sales, and it’s understood that there are still tickets remaining for the regular screenings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. With exactly four weeks to go until release, four weeks that will see the film’s marketing campaign to hit the hyperdrive, we can readily expect that number to continue to climb.
Steeped in a very special brand of nostalgia, Star Wars: The Force Awakens will hope to ignite a brand new beacon of hope for Disney’s juggernaut when Episode VII hits theaters on December 18, 2015 – read: we’re now only four weeks from release.