“Star Wars” tops $1 billion globally at record pace

PanARMENIAN.Net - “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” showed few signs of flagging over Christmas weekend, barreling past the $1 billion mark globally at a faster clip than any film in history, Variety reports.

It’s becoming old hat to recount the various ways that the seventh film in the science-fiction fantasy is vaporizing records, but, familiar or not, “The Force Awakens” once again ground down high-water marks over the holidays, racking up $153.5 million domestically. That represents both the biggest Christmas holiday result and the best second weekend for a film.

“This would have been a respectable opening weekend for ‘Star Wars,'” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Rentrak. “It’s become a happening. It’s a cultural event that’s seeped into the zeitgeist. That’s the only way you get these numbers.”

Domestically, “The Force Awakens” has grossed a mammoth $544.6 million. Worldwide that figure is nearly $1.1 billion. The “Star Wars” sequel crossed $1 billion in twelve days, something it took the previous record holder, “Jurassic World,” thirteen days to accomplish.

The three-day holiday should also rank as biggest Christmas weekend overall beating the $269.8 million generated in 2009 — that period saw the launch of “Sherlock Holmes” and the second weekend of “Avatar,” the box office titan that “The Force Awakens” hopes to surpass as the highest-grossing film in history.