When Disney revives the long slumbering Star Wars franchise on December 18, The Force Awakens will take the global tentpole opening to a history-making high. How high? Many are already predicting a record $615M worldwide opening, and they have plenty of reason to be confident in that number. The first Star Wars in 1977 gave birth to the blockbuster era of filmmaking — and grosses.
Insiders say that in any given 20-plex in December, Force Awakens will be on at minimum 10 screens. Like Jurassic World‘s success this summer, the key driving force to Force Awakens remains its multi-generational appeal. Disney has smartly planted the film in the year-end holiday corridor when families head to the cinema in bulk. The expectation is that Force Awakens will play in north of 4,000 theaters on at least 10,000 U.S. screens stateside and in every overseas territory. All except for China, which has a blackout period on Hollywood films during December
