December 19 at 12:03 p.m. E.T.: Like the Millennium Falcon and the Kessel Run, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has broken the record for opening day box office sales according to Variety. Current estimates have the seventh installment of George Lucas’ franchise earning $120.5 million in its opening day, beating previous record-holder Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2’s record of $91m.
Original Story: Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned $57 million in its Thursday night showings, breaking a record previously held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 back in 2011 with $43.5m, according to Variety. BoxOffice adds to that report, saying that 47% of those receips came from 3-D ticket sales, with IMAX accounting for $5.7m. The film is on 4,134 theatre screens in North America, a record for the month of December.
Given the $100+m already taken in with advance ticket sales in the U.S., Variety expects Star Wars: The Force Awakens to easily earn $200m in its opening weekend. The record is currently held by Jurassic World with $208.4m domestically, with $316.1m counting international sales.
Outside of the United States, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has already earned $14.1m thanks to earlier release dates in 32 international markets.
Avatar still holds the record for the highest-grossing movie of all time in theaters, with $2.78 billion.