STAR WARS VII BECOMES US HIGHEST GROSSING FILM OF ALL TIME

Official Poster of the movie

(Photo: Wall Street Journal)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has made history, becoming the higuest grossing film of all time in the United States. Now the question is, How high can it go?, Will it hit 1 billion?. We will see in the following weeks.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is now the highest-grossing movie of all time in U.S. and Canadian theaters, Walt Disney Co. announced Wednesday.

“The Force Awakens” surpassed the record formerly held by “Avatar” in just 20 days.

Disney did not provide an exact figure on where the gross stands, only saying that “The Force Awakens” had overtaken the $760.5 million lifetime gross of “Avatar” sometime in the afternoon.

 “Avatar” grossed $749.8 million in its initial run, collecting the gargantuan box office over more than eight months. It grossed an additional $10.7 million when a special edition version was released in theaters in August 2010.

The question now: How high can it go? Some analysts think it could eventually hit $1 billion.

Overseas, “The Force Awakens” has collected just under $800 million, for a global gross of $1.56 billion so far. The movie opens this weekend in China, the world’s second-largest box office market but one where the franchise is less well-known. That lack of familiarity means it will be tough for “The Force Awakens” to surpass “Avatar’s” global gross, which was $2.78 billion.

Of course, any comparison has to take inflation into account. When ticket prices are adjusted, “Gone With the Wind” is far and away the No. 1 grossing film of all time, with $1.74 billion in domestic sales, according to Box Office Mojo. The original “Star Wars” follows with $1.5 billion. Even “Avatar” has enjoyed an adjusted boost in the six years since its release — it sits in 14th place on the adjusted chart with $837.4 million.

“The Force Awakens” is creeping up the adjusted chart, too. It should soon pass (the George Lucas-produced) “Raiders of the Lost Ark” to take spot No. 20”

(Wall Street Journal, 2016)

PAVARE