There has been an awakening and the UK and Ireland have truly felt it with record breaking takings for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The film enjoyed not only the biggest opening day of all time but also the biggest single day in UK industry history.
Opening at midnight on 17 December, fans flocked to cinemas to be the first to see the hugely anticipated next episode in the Star Wars saga which has taken an estimated £9.6 million on its opening day setting a new UK and Ireland industry record.
Midnight screenings alone accounted for £2.4 million of the days box office smashing all previous records. Tickets for the highly anticipated film went on sale in October and sold more than 200,000 tickets in 24 hours. Exhibitors continually added screens to accommodate demand which resulted in a total of 2 million booked tickets ahead of the release – breaking another record for advanced ticket bookings.
