The Walt Disney Company’s DIS Star Wars franchise returned to the theaters after a decade with Star Wars: The Force Awakens and what a comeback it was!
The movie shattered the box office record with a massive collection of $517 million worldwide in the opening weekend. Disney shareholders are naturally enthusiastic about the bright prospects that this release holds.
Breaks Jurassic World’s Domestic Record
Domestically, Disney earned $238 million in the opening weekend marking the biggest opening in Hollywood’s history, smashing the $208.8 million record set by Jurassic World.
The entertainment world has been abuzz ever since Disney announced Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Coming a decade after the last release, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, we believe it will be a fitting end to Disney’s spectacular year at the box office.
Overseas Success
Internationally, the company minted $279 million in the opening weekend. The movie’s overall collection of $517 million came a close second to Jurassic World’s $525 million. Star Wars: The Force Awakens could have surpassed Jurassic World if it could hit the theatres in China simultaneously. The movie is set to release on Jan 9, 2016 in the country. The new flick broke records in Australia, Russia and Britain as well.
Financial bellwether, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS, raised the box-office collection estimate for the movie to $1.95 billion from $1.5 billion. The domestic collection is expected to be $750 million and globally $1.2 billion. Goldman Sachs forecasts that the company’s fiscal 2016 earnings per share will increase 2 cents or 0.4% for each $100 million jump in box-office sales.
Will Star Wars Break Avatar Records?
After the phenomenal opening weekend success, speculations are rife whether the movie can break the box-office record of Avatar (2009), the highest grosser ever with $2.8 billion in worldwide collections. The second Hollywood film to cross the $2 billion milestone was Titanic (1997). We believe that given the kind of success the movie has already tasted, it would hardly be a surprise if it breaks both the records.
Disney carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and shares space with Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. FOXA and Comcast Corporation CMCSA.
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