‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Demolishes Pre-Sales Records

We all knew that “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” would make boatloads of money, but it’s always been a question of how much. Would the film break opening weekend records, and more importantly, would the film be able to tackle the all-time worldwide box office record set by “Avatar”? While we can’t speak for the latter question, it’s becoming increasingly clear what the opening weekend will look like for the legendary sequel.

According to THR, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has now crossed the $100 million mark for North America in pre-sales tickets. That’s $100 million before a frame of the finished film has been shown to the general public. Some are even speculating that it may hit $120 million before its release. For reference, the previous record for the pre-sales was set by 2012’s “The Dark Knight” with $25 million. “The Dark Knight” went on to make $158 million on its opening weekend in North America.

While I’m not foolish enough to think that “The Force Awakens” is set to make $632 million in North America on its opening weekend (which is four times the amount of “The Dark Knight”), I’m quite optimistic that it’ll break the opening weekend record of $208.8 million, which was set earlier this year by “Jurassic World.” When all said and done, I’m expectinga weekend box office haul of $250 million — ambitious, to be sure, but given that the name is “Star Wars,” I think it’s an attainable goal. 

It also helps that “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” looks to be a hit with critics thus far. As of this writing, the film has a 97% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 127 reviews in the can. Considering the size of the blockbuster, I’m expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 critic reviews. When all said and done, we may see the film at around 90%, or in the high 80s.

This may seem like a stupid and superficial way to gauge a film’s success, but audiences are more sensitive than ever to the critic rating of a movie. In a world of instant gratification and online streaming, the internet is completely overflowing with far too much entertainment for any one person to watch. As such, audiences look to sites like Rotten Tomatoes to decide whether or not a movie or TV show is worth their increasingly precious time and attention.

So if the new “Star Wars” is able to keep high in the critic ratings, the amount of money they could make by weekend’s end is really anyone’s guess.

How much do you think “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will make this weekend? Do you expect the movie to break “Avatar’s” all-time record when its run is up? Let us know your thoughts down below.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” hits theaters on December 18, 2015.

SOURCE: THR

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