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San Francisco - Shattering box office records, the latest instalment of Star Wars has stoked US film industry hopes that theatres can thrive in the face of a growing shift to online video streaming.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens surged above estimates to post an all-time industry-high $248m domestically plus $281m internationally for a record global debut of $529m since opening 16 December, Disney said on Monday.
The previous record holder was Jurassic World, which had a global launch box office tally of $524.9m.
Cheers to J.J., Kathy, the cast and crew, and DIS/LFL marketing teams! #TheForceAwakens @Disney @StarWars @Bad_Robot pic.twitter.com/oa0zwuAb2Q
— Frank Marshall (@LeDoctor) December 21, 2015
The stellar opening weekend was great news for North American cinemas, where box office revenues were down five percent to $10.4bn last year while increasing barely one percent globally, according to statistics from the Motion Picture Association of America.
"Movie theatres have a chance to reintroduce themselves to movie-goers who come for Star Wars but may not have come for a few years," said National Association of Theatre Owners spokesman Patrick Corcoran.
In the past decade, movie theatres have remade themselves with more comfortable seats, improved sight lines, sophisticated projectors, immersive sound systems and amenities such as dinners or drinks delivered to seats during shows.
A powerhouse attraction such as Star Wars is a chance for upgraded theatres to show visitors what they are missing and, hopefully, win them back as regular customers.
Star Wars has a winning formula that includes legions of fans devoted to the franchise and marketing momentum ramped up by Hollywood entertainment titan Disney.
Many people who were children when they fell in love with early Star Wars films are now old enough to have offspring of their own and make enthusiastic family outings to the theatre.
"It's a cultural event," said Erik Davis of online reservations service Fandango, which handled a large chunk of Star Wars tickets sold in the United States and Canada.
"It's bringing a lot of people together, especially different groups of families and friends, and people going multiple times with multiple people."
Films with that kind of drawing prowess are rare, but Davis saw the record-breaking opening of Star Wars as evidence that the shared experience of viewing a movie on the big screen remains important, despite the trend toward streaming entertainment on smaller screens.
He pointed out that in contrast to 2013, when only Iron Man 3 topped a billion dollars in global box-office receipts, that threshold has already been broken this year by Jurassic World, Furious 7 and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Nostalgia versus technology
Big-budget offerings based on known commodities, whether they be earlier films or hit books, more easily attract massive audiences to theatres.
"Nostalgia is making a lot of money at the box office right now," Davis said.
"I wouldn't be surprised if studios now look for other franchises from our past and try to resurrect them in different ways."
Recent cinematic successes rooted in the past include Mad Max: Fury Road and Creed, which breathed new life into Rocky.
Of course, the finished product must be entertaining enough to sit through, many times even.
Director J.J. Abrams has won praise for his achievement with the new Star Wars.
The film rode a "predictable formula" that was a good, safe bet, according to Endpoint Technologies analyst Roger Kay.
"That doesn't say anything about the relentless progress of technology, which is definitely swinging toward streaming," Kay said.
He noted improved sound quality of headphones and the rise of ultra-high resolution screens and content in homes. Virtual reality headsets due to hit the market in the coming year promise to give people another kind of immersive viewing experience for video.
Still, theatres will attract audiences when people want to be with other humans as they enjoy a film.
"That's going to ultimately be the reason why theatre survives," Kay said.
"It's because it's a social place where you go when you want to be with other people."
