Via Bloomberg.com:
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” probably rang up about $528 million in worldwide box-office sales in its record weekend debut, more than Walt Disney Co. anticipated, Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said.
That’s even before the movie reaches China, the second largest market in the world. With domestic sales coming in way higher than expected at $247 million, the first live-action “Star Wars” film in a decade already beats the previous global record by about $3 million — “Jurassic World” reached $524.9 million earlier this year. As of Sunday, Disney estimated the worldwide total at $517 million.
“It’s bigger than big — it’s bigger than we thought it would be yesterday,” Iger said Monday in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Stephanie Ruhle and David Westin. “And China has yet to open.”
The new “Star Wars” film will nourish Disney’s studio, theme-park and merchandise businesses for years. Since acquiring creator Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012, Burbank, California-based Disney has expanded the merchandise lines, produced new TV shows and mapped plans for themed lands at parks in California and Florida. The studio has as many as five more “Star Wars” films in the works.
While “Star Wars” has broken records, other parts of Disney’s businesses have raised concerns among investors. Recent subscriber losses at ESPN, which remains the dominant sports outlet in America and is Disney’s most profitable channel, have contributed to two meltdowns in media stocks since August, because they cast light on the magnitude of the number of consumers who are dropping traditional TV packages for cheaper online alternatives.
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