Why ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Could Be the Biggest Movie Ever

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 3:39PM EST · Published Dec 28, 11:55AM EST

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Why ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Could Be the Biggest Movie Ever — © courtesy of Walt Disney Co.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is continuing to set box office records, and there does not appear to be any end in sight. Worldwide sales for this box office behemoth just surpassed the $1 billion mark, in only 12 days. This is the fastest that any movie has ever eclipsed this level.

The Star Wars franchise is one of the most beloved on the planet. Previously, George Lucas was in control of the franchise, but then sold it to Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) for just over $4 billion. Originally, 24/7 Wall St. calculated the value of the Star Wars franchise to be a whopping $30 billion over time.

Although Disney is making an absolute killing in the box office, the Star Wars franchise has made the majority of its money through merchandise and collectables.

For a basis of comparison, the very first Star Wars movie released, latter called “A New Hope,” only had a total box office of $775.4 million in 1977. Compare this to the 1999 release of “The Phantom Menace,” which had a total box office of $1.027 billion. At the current rate that “The Force Awakens” is selling, it is set to eclipse these two movies combined within its first 100 days.
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Even compared to other top movies that came out in 2015, based on its projections Star Wars stands to blow all of these away:

“Jurassic World” had a worldwide gross totaling $1.67 billion.
“Furious 7” had a worldwide gross totaling $1.52 billion.
“Avengers: Age of Ultron” had a worldwide gross of $1.41 billion.
“Minions” had a worldwide gross of $1.16 billion.

Even “Titanic” had a total box office of $2.19 billion. The top dog to overcome will be “Avatar,” which had a total box office $2.79 billion.

Keep in mind Star Wars only has been out in theaters for 12 days, and it is already in contention for one of the top grossing films of the year.

Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, has even commented that:

It’s bigger than big. It’s bigger than we thought it would be.

Shares of Disney were trading up 1% at $106.90 on Monday, with a consensus analyst price target of $118.24 and a 52-week trading range of $90.00 to $122.08.

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.