Did you hear about this little Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie? Sick of people making ironic jokes about how massive it is? Fortune has smiled down upon you with the official numbers from The Force Awakens' Thursday box office receipts, proving those jokes to be just as annoying as you thought. The movie stacked $57 million on Thursday night at the North American box office, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Sorry, Harry Potter. That’s much better than Deathly Hallows Part 2’s 2011 Thursday haul (and previous record) of $43.5 million.
3D viewing experiences made up an estimated 47 percent of the night’s receipts, with IMAX screenings actually setting a new format-specific record of its own by landing $5.7 million from 391 screens across the country. Though the "vast majority" of first-nighters were reportedly male, Force Awakens is predicted to "broaden out" over the weekend.
Globally speaking, J.J. Abrams’ prequels-forgiving foray into the world of George Lucas nabbed $72.7 million in two days for a current worldwide tally of roughly $130 million. If history and Stephen Colbert's excitement level are any indication (they are), then Force Awakens will likely bulldoze over a laundry list of additional box office records in the days and weeks ahead.
