Star Wars: The Force Awakens Outgrosses Avatar in America, Sets IMAX Records, and Makes $1.56 Billion Worldwide!
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens continues to demolish records as it passes the domestic gross of the initial $749.7 million release of Avatar (not counting the $1o.7 million gross brought theatrical run of the Special Edition, which should be surpassed later today). This makes it The Force Awakens the highest-grossing film in the United States when not adjusted for inflation, and the film has also set new records for the IMAX format and has made over $1.5 billion worldwide.
As of this writing, Box Office Mojo and Coming Soon report that the film has made $758.2 million domestically and $799.1 million internationally, which adds up to a worldwide total of $1,557.3 million – all in a mere three weeks. The Hollywood Reporter has also noted that by the end of today, the movie will clear the $760 million mark and will take Avatar‘s title as the #1 movie in America. Variety also noted that the movie is doing extremely well on IMAX screens around the globe:
The premium theaters are getting a big boost from Star Wars: The Force Awakens both in the United States and around the world. Through last weekend, the film has made a massive $152 million from Imax showings globally, making it the second highest-grossing release in the company’s history. It has a very strong chance of overtaking Avatar and its $243.3 million global haul once it opens next weekend in China, where it will screen on 268 IMAX locations.
The film is reaching high-water marks at a record pace. The Force Awakens reached its current IMAX grosses in 19 days, whereas it took Avatar 47 days to hit the same number and it had the benefit of having opened in China by that point. The North American IMAX results stand at $98.2 million, the second best in the company’s history, and it should cross $100 million early next week.
So this leaves The Force Awakens as the #1 movie in terms of domestic gross for a single release (which will soon be #1 overall, once Avatar‘s re-release is surpassed), and the #4 movie in terms of domestic and international grosses. (And bear in mind – it still has yet to open in the ever-important box office of China.) In terms of where this leaves The Force Awakens relative to other movies when adjusted for inflation, it’s currently ranked #21 – and by the time the movie’s domestic gross has ended, it could very well clear Avatar‘s inflation-adjusted record.
Stay tuned to Star Wars News Net as we cover the financial success of this film and the latest and greatest stories about the Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
Avatar became big in cinemas cause of false hype, so bad i almost left theater.Think TFA may be biggest yet when it’s finally done world wide.Avatar 2 gonna blow at box office calling it now just wait and see.You never hear people talking about it like it’s a good movie.
I actually thought the live-action adaptation of Fern Gully was pretty decent. 😉
false hype doesn’t cause repeat viewings.
You’d be surprised.
Its watchable for 1-2 times. Visually it was pretty impressive in 2009, and ofc everybody hyped it. But its basically Dances with the wolves in blue.
I agree!
Poor Avatar. Though it wasn’t bad, it’s praise was still 90% hype, or only talking about its visuals. Now that its fancy 2009 CGI is looking dated, I think people are starting to realize that it might not be super deserving of that record.
Neither is Farce Awakens.
93% on Rotten Tomatoes. You may shut up now.
Paid shills?
The same critics giving it fresh ratings still say it had issues.
You may shut up now.
Yeah, no. You can’t pay off 300 critics to give positive ratings. If you coiukd, the orequelks would be more well-recieved. And believe it or not, a movie can have issues and still be good. The fact that yoiun think otherwise shows that your expectations are far too high. Goodday.
So most critics felt on balance there was at least slightly more good than bad in TFA. Whoop dee…doo? You can’t just note a RT score and pretend it means anything in terms of film critique and then drop the mic like you just won “teh internets”.
If we are gonna start picking bad things said in overall good reviews to use against it, we can just as easily pick good things said about it in negative reviews. I actually read a review where the guy actually said it was “a good movie, but not a great one”, but it still was marked as rotten. I didn’t think the opinion “good movie” meant rotten.
Come on, when has RT scores stopped people from thinking how they want to think? (besides, those are based on reviews by RT-certified critics, not from those in the general public). There can be a movie that is “certified fresh”, rated 75% favorably or higher, yet some folks will still trash it on the internet (now I’m not going to bring up examples of this odd phenomenon as I’m not going to get into a discussion about this with anyone (that’s a discussion for another
day)). My point is that RT scores don’t really influence many individuals, which really shouldn’t as people should be coming up with their own opinions rather than engaging in group-think and letting others do the thinking for them (regardless if people’s opinions align with the critics’ opinions or not, regardless of direction).
Let’s see how people are feeling about TFA a year from now (to see if and how people’s opinions have altered in any way, shape, or form since the 1st time viewing it). And for the record, I like TFA and I see myself still liking it a year from now.
Yeah, but I liked The Force Awakens.
I pity you
I didn’t see Avatar at the cinema (only because I didn’t have time), but bought the blu-ray afterwards – I’ve twice tried to watch it and got bored and switched it off after about an hour both times – other than the visuals it really doesn’t have much going for it.
The fact that he’s doing Avatard 2,3 and 4 is a sign of how far James Cameron has disappeared up his own arsehole. Agreed, Avatard 2 will tank, relatively speaking as no one gives a shit about those giant blue dildos anymore. Cameron thinks he’s uncovered a new Star Wars because he vomited out some drivel and released it in 3D at a time when that was enough to get people to buy a ticket. Well, Star Wars is back, man. And audiences have been reminded of what proper space fantasy is all about. Cameron and his Avatard series can eff right off. He’s not getting my coin and I seriously doubt he’ll be getting much of anyone else’s. We’ll all be spending it watching the latest SW film again and again.
this film was false hype. Avatar delivered on an immersive 3d experience, not story. It was sold on seeing it in cinema.
Congratulations to J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy for this well-earned distinction.
LMAO the Avatar younglings
I have one of the site’s commentators to thank for the image. I don’t remember what his name was, though…
– Pomojema
Scrolling by I lolled as well.
I wish someone would just give us the number of tickets sold….In my mind, its all about views, not money. I know Disney and investors are interested in money…but I wan’t to know who reigns supreme as far as tickets/views go.
You can see that on Box Office Mojo.com
Select the Adjuster tab on the right that shows estimated tickets sold.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm?adjust_yr=1&p=.htm
Thanks. That’s the actual REAL box office.
Thanks! Ask and you shall receive!
Then again, not all tickets have the same value. If you’re willing to pay $20 for IMAX 3D then that should count more than a $5 matinee.
But the past big ticket sellers going many decades back didn’t have to compete with the video coming out 6 months or less after. Nobody had TV when Gone With the Wind was released. Many of them came out a time people couldn’t say “I’ll wait for video.” Plus the choices for entertainment were very limited back then compared to now.
I wish this point would be more out there. I think the whole adjusted for inflation is very misleading. It should also account for all of the other factors. Like you said, home video, bootlegging, and other entertainment sources. Also, I’d like to see what ticket prices were back in 1939 in relation to average income. I’d have to image a trip to the movies takes a much bigger bite out of a person’s weekly income these days.
Exactly. Even when adjusted for inf!action, movie tickets were simply cheaper back then. I had a teacher who said that during his childhood, he could go to a movie and popcorn, candy, and a drink for a quarter.
Gone with the wind, then Star Wars New Hope
It’s important to note that GONE WITH THE WIND was re-released nine times over 60 years (in 1942, 1947, 1954, 1961, 1967, 1971, 1974, 1989, & 1998). It’s initial run began in December 1939 as an advance roadshow presentation at $1 a ticket (four times the cost of a typical movie in 1940). It ran at this cost until the end of 1940. It entered it’s first general release in 1941 at a regular ticket price of 25 cents.
The movie sold about 20 million tickets during this period and made $23.5 million from December 1939 through the end of 1941 at varying ticket prices ($0.25 to $1) — basically two years of initial release. Today that would be $398 million.
STAR WARS made $307 million total (domestic) in its first release in 1977. At an average ticket price of $2.23, that would be roughly 138 million tickets.
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS has made $758 million domestically in 19 days. At an average ticket price of $8.61, that is roughly 88 million tickets.
Thanks! Fantastic breakdown!
“Your spirit will now be with Eywa…” – Anakin to the Na’vi Younglings…
prediction: 2.3 billion world box office
Yep. Very high, above Titanic, a bit below Avatar. An undeniable success.
just saying…
Yeah, it’s insane. What this film has done financially is basically the equivalent of taking a quarter from every person on the planet.
opposed to all the other movies out there done for charity, what a shame Star Wars and Disney what a shame
I saw it in IMAX 3D at a regular theater, it looked amazing. I paid a huge premium the second time around to see the 70mm print at a real IMAX theater in San Jose, CA. That was a complete waste of money. The image was badly warped because it was projected all the way across the dome screen. People & objects near the right and left edges of the frame were short & wide. The image was so huge that I was constantly turning my head to see everything. Also, a few of the digital FX and some of the actors’ complexions didn’t hold up when displayed that large. The only good thing about the experience was seeing all of the detail in the movie (as long as it was in the middle of the frame). The costumes, props and sets were completely and convincingly detailed. Amazing artistry and craftsmanship. Anyway, I’m happy to add to Star Wars’s success — I just wish I hadn’t fallen for: “Immerse yourself in the movie at one of the few theaters showing a 70mm print on a real IMAX screen”. It costs more than twice as much and looks more than 10 times worse.
The dome screen is actually different than real IMAX it’s even bigger. Real IMAX is more like LieMax shape but as big as the Dome IMAX.
All I can say is the IMAX dome 70mm experience was way, way inferior to LIMAX 3D. Honestly, I have no idea why they even bothered projecting a widescreen movie that way (money). It looked awful. Oh well, I’m seeing it at Alamo Draft House in a few days. Beer & Star Wars on the big screen…
Real IMAX (70 mm, not dome) would be way better, and yoiu should consider trying to fund a screening in the correct format.
If it’s still playing the next time I’m in LA I’ll probably give it a try. I guess people should LFMF and check the format of any “real” 70mm IMAX screens Star Wars is playing on.
Hey…they got me once, but at least I can say i bootlegged my other watches.
Remember kids…box office receipts does not equal quality movie.
“Remember kids, stealing movies is okay!”
Thank you for being such a glorious role model.
The kids ought to steal corporate garbage and save their cash for true starving artists
Oh my, I hope it doesn’t hurt to be snotty and pretentious.
You’d be in a lot of pain right now.
So just to be clear, are you saying it’s ok to go and rob a McDonald’s?!
The kids ought to steal processed garbage and save their cash for true food.
See? Now stealing food is okay!
Hey look kids, its Douchey McHipster!
Hip what? What’s a hipster?
I wish I could of saw your face when you realized Finn wasn’t “all that”..lol
Good gooood! I knew it was gonna make it!!
I think most people know my opinion on the movie my first viewing (was very disappointed). Saw it again today in 3D with my 4 year old and I enjoyed it a lot more than the first viewing. The Starkiller base will ALWAYS be an issue for me. Like if TPM was good except for Jar Jar. You just cant get over a Jar Jar. But the rest of the movie is fun. I was pretty mad at Kasdan for letting this story be written the way it was, but if he was responsible for dialogue, he did very well. The script is pretty damn good (not the story).
So if VII can manage to not have any stupid copy/paste plot devices like a Death Star, and it can add a little more depth to the main characters and the Resistance/First Order backstory, this ST could still be saved.
Im thinking JJ/Kasdan and Rian wanted to really bring out the Force and remove some of the mysticism and have it out in the open. The references to “Light” and “Dark” in TFA are astounding. If theres a reason for that, like say Luke tried to delve into the Darkside and by doing so he “woke” the Force in a new way, hey thats pretty good. I hope its something like that.
You lost me at “this SW could still be saved”
93% on Rotten Tomatoes, man.
Come on, when has RT scores stopped people from thinking how they want to think? (besides, those are based on reviews by RT-certified critics, not from those in the general public). There can be a movie that is “certified fresh”, rated 75% favorably or higher, yet some folks will still trash it on the internet (now I’m not going to bring up examples of this odd phenomenon as I’m not going to get into a discussion about this with anyone (that’s for another day)). My point is that RT scores don’t really influence many individuals, which really shouldn’t as people should be coming up with their own opinions rather than engaging in group-think and letting others do the thinking for them.
Let’s see how people are feeling about TFA a year from now (to see if and how people’s opinions have altered in any way, shape, or form since the 1st time viewing it)
I think they actually brought some mysticism back to the force. The PT explained the hell out of it with midi-chlorian counts & etc. JJ’s version is much more about the characters’ connection to the force & how they use that power.
Just to play devil’s advocate, midi-chlorians are mentioned exactly twice, both times in TPM. The first time they’re counted, but not explained, and the second time Jinn explains to Anakin that they are symbiotes that allow someone to know and feel the Force. They are never put forward as an explanation of the Force itself, just why some people are potential Jedi material and others aren’t. Then the whole notion was dropped entirely for two films. Lucas hardly ‘explained the hell out of it (The Force)”.
And a thrid time in ROTS during the theatre scene. ,,He could use the Foce to influence the midichlorians to create life” Lucas could’ve stopped after the Force, but he really liked fake-biology for some inexplicable reason.
Errr no, Palpatine brings it up again in ROTS, implying he could influence the midi chlroians to save Padme , which was pretty integral to the plot
What was actually integral to the plot is the idea of saving Padme with the Force, not the actual technical aspect of it (that was just explanation on the inner workings).
Palpatine also mentions them in the Plaqueis story (opera scene) ROTS. One thing I do agree with you on it seems,in regards the rest of that.
The fact that it was all of a sudden ‘quantifiable’ is what sticks.
Its an important departure from “not this crude matter”.
You know what my Jar-Jar moment was? Those rathgars on Han’s ship. Like, there’s good CG like Maz Kanata, and then there’s “made in a basement by a dude that has no idea how animals behave/move”-bad CG like the Rathgars. The execution on those was just tacky and blah. Everything else was alright though,
The Starkiller base, hm, lame, but it IS Iceland, so that’s an automatic plus. And then when it explodes, it builds up and it’s *just* about to go into a blast-ring, but then it shifts gears and TURNS INTO THE SUN.
😮 Mind. Blown.
Overall, it was a crappy story with GREAT, GREAT execution. [except for the rathgars]
Domestic, guys. Would still have to make over a billion more dollars to top all time box office.
You must be a captain! 😉
Must be some parsecs to go Before Gone with the wind is toppled….
I am not sure if it has already been mentioned on SWNN, but John Boyega has been nominated for a BAFTA Rising Star award. Congratulations to John on this well-deserved nomination.
A lot has been said about The Force Awakens success. If you liked the movie, then its a success to you. Its nice to see that others enjoy what you enjoy. If you didn’t like The Force Awakens, too bad and I’m sorry to hear that. It must be so disappointing to see such a beloved franchise fall so far in your eyes. Bummer.
What’s your point?
Wait…. I’m supposed to have a point? When did that start?
IN. YO. FACE.
With inflated ticket prices (not to mention 3D/IMAX) It won’t be for very long. Titanic held it for a good decade or so and Avatar held it for a few years less. What I’d really like to know is how much that equals in ticket sales which is what really counts and a better measure of how many people have seen the film. Right now the all-time leader is Gone With The Wind followed by A New Hope.