“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” continued to careen toward $1 billion at a record pace Wednesday, after adding another $37.3 million domestically and $41.3 million from overseas on Tuesday to lift its worldwide box office total to $689 million after five days.
On the same day that the J.J. Abrams-directed space adventure was named the “Performer of the Year” by the Associated Press, Disney reported that the seventh entry in the iconic sci-fi film franchise continued to be the headliner at the domestic and global box office.
The Tuesday haul in North American for “The Force Awakens” eclipsed the mark of $35 million set by “The Amazing Spider-Man” on its opening day in July of 2012. It also broke the records for the fastest to hit $300 million domestically, doing it in five days as compared to the eight days that it took the previous record-holder “Jurassic World” this summer. Its North American total is now $325.4 million.
“The Force Awakens” has taken in $364 million internationally. The leading foreign market, by far, has been the U.K. where it has rung up $68.2 million. Germany ($36.1 million) and France ($31.6 million) are next.
There seems little doubt now that the Millennium Falcon gang will cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office in record time. To do that, it will have to beat the 13 days it took “Jurassic World” to get there. On its current pace, “The Force Awakens” could get there by Friday or Saturday, which would be seven or eight days.
“The Force Awakens” stars Daisy Ridley and John Boyega in the key roles as Rey and Finn along with original “Star Wars” stars Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and Carrie Fisher as Leia. “The Force Awakens” is set 30 years after the events of 1983’s “Star Wars – Return of the Jedi.”
The production budget on “The Force Awakens,” from Abrams’ Bad Robot and Lucasfilm, was $200 million. Bryan Burk and Kathleen Kennedy produced along with Abrams, who shared screenwriting duties with Michael Arndt and Lawrence Kasdan. John Williams composed the score.