Star Wars Breaks 4 Day Record

[The Orgasmatron]

LOS ANGELES - Moviegoers have turned out in full force for the final chapter of the “Star Wars” saga, which took in $158.5 million since its opening to shatter three-day and four-day box office records.

“Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith” grossed $124.7 million from Thursday to Saturday, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s higher than the three-day record set by the first “Spider-Man,” which took in $114.8 million in May 2002 — though “Star Wars” had a lower Friday-Sunday take ($108.5 million) than the Tobey Maguire film.
“Revenge of the Sith” rang in a whopping $50 million on its opening Thursday, a single-day record boosted by eagerly anticipated midnight showings, and its total receipts since then beat the four-day $134.3 million opening of 2003’s “The Matrix Reloaded.” The George Lucas film has also grossed $144.7 million overseas for a total of $303 million worldwide.

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Estimated ticket sales for May 20-22
1. “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” $108.5 million* (four-day total: $158.5 million)
2. “Monster-in-Law,” $14.4 million
3. “Kicking & Screaming,” $10.5 million
4. “Crash,” $5.5 million
5. “Unleashed,” $3.8 million
6. “Kingdom of Heaven,” $3.4 million
7. “House of Wax,” $3.2 million
8. “The Interpreter,” $2.8 million
9. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” $2 million
*— Three-day total




“The reaction to the movie is absolutely spectacular,” said Bruce Snyder, president of domestic distribution at Twentieth Century Fox.

Last weekend’s box office champ, “Monster-in-Law,” which marked Jane Fonda’s return to the big screen as Jennifer Lopez’s villainous prospective mother-in-law, slipped to a distant second with $14.4 million, a 38 percent drop. The Will Ferrell soccer comedy “Kicking & Screaming” took in $10.5 million to finish third.

Theater owners, studios and marketing partners were pleased to see “Star Wars” jump-start the summer movie season.

“It’s a very strong start to what will hopefully be a very strong summer,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The Adam Sandler-Chris Rock remake of “The Longest Yard” and the animated zoo tale “Madagascar” open in wide release during Memorial Day weekend, traditionally one of the busiest movie viewing times of the year.

But “Star Wars” — which has sold an average of eight tickets per second online at Fandango.com — could remain at the top of the box office despite the competition.

“I think we have a shot to be No. 1 next week even with two giant pictures coming out,” Snyder said.

The third and final installment in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy chronicles the transformation of the heroic Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into the villainous Darth Vader. Studio exit surveys showed the audience — usually dominated by men for sci-fi films — was 58 percent male and 42 percent female, with nearly half the viewers under age 25, Snyder said.

“Revenge of the Sith” is the first “Star Wars” film to earn a PG-13 rating. The first five films were rated PG. Considered by critics to be the most entertaining of the prequel trilogy, it easily outperformed “Episode I — The Phantom Menace” and “Episode II — Attack of the Clones,” which grossed $64.8 million and $80 million, respectively, in their opening weekends.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

God damn, that movie must be great.

[BlackMage908]

It was. Easy 10/10 in my book. =D

[The Orgasmatron]

DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN I WANT TO SEE IT...lol

[Silver Ice]

looks like a movie to make up for the first and second crappy ones... too bad there are a few morons who like to give away the plot.

[pyrocrow]

Ya, and the acting sucked still as usual. but it is awesome. If your so yodaish then get there 30 min early at a theater less people go to.

[The Orgasmatron]

Hey now, don't flame me. I had advanced tickets. But the theatre made a mistake and still sold out.

[[/sarcasm]]

I actually saw it today and I'd have to say I loved it. Tied up practically all ends and brought the Star Wars storyline full-circle. I really hope they make another movie based on the Knights of the Old Republic games, because KOTOR kicked so much ***.

[mrbona2]

I loved the new starwars, Im happy to see it did well

[Silent_killers]

I liked it the best out of all of them.

[nujabes]

this one was my favorite out of all of them. but the plot kind of pissed me off, with the chancellor and stuff

[mrbona2]

The plot was pretty good, but the acting love relationship was SO terrible

[DaCougarMech]

it was a kickassmovie foshizzle yo
aside from that it was incredible. it's one of those movies that explain everything and ties them all together from why someone looks like this to why they are this way

[mrbona2]

It did a great job of tying it together

What the hell was the yo foshizzle shit for?

[soulfly_NL]

It was better then I and II, but still not as good (my opinion) as 4+5+6

[mrbona2]

My Favorite was Empire Strikes Back, then Return, then the new one

anyone else go to the midnight showing?

[SpoonMan999]

I actually saw it today and I'd have to say I loved it. Tied up practically all ends and brought the Star Wars storyline full-circle. I really hope they make another movie based on the Knights of the Old Republic games, because KOTOR kicked so much ***.

I've seen it three times now. Was great for the story and all, 5 lightsaber battles doesn't hurt either. The acting was terrible and so was Lucas's direction. I mean come on you have all this money and all these resources learn some more subtle forshadowing, editing, and how to express love.

Also the story of Uliic Quel'Droma would have made a much better movie. If you don't know who he is you might recognize his name from KoTOR as he was mentioned in a Datapad, dropped by his lover a long time before KoTOR, and his robes which you would find in the cave on Korriban at the end where the big monster is. They are actually the robes my light side chars usually wear.

My Favorite was Empire Strikes Back, then Return, then the new one

Gonna have to agree with you here. Empire had a much better ending and had so much progression that was near flawless when it came together. And to quote Clerks "All Jedi had was a bunch of muppets."

[[/sarcasm]]

I flew through KOTOR so fast I really don't remember the storyline, let alone the little details, very much at all, however, I played KOTOR II three times through and remember practically everything about it.

And really... Probably the most compelling thing about the Dark side is that you get a cool new name. I mean, Lucas must intentionally make the coolest names reserved for the Sith.

[SpoonMan999]

I've played KoTOR through atleast 15 times and KoTOR II through probably 4-5 times. And btw...George Lucas has pretty much nothing to do with the games or novels. And Uliic Quel'Droma is from a novel he was just mentioned in KoTOR. You should look him up on the official site and read his bio.