Quigley

That just means that presales are a smaller percentage of the total presales that are possible, right? Since they are higher in absolute numbers, it means that TFA has a shot at matching FF7's OD. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is no reason not to hope anymore.

I think it doesn't have to do with the market itself. A lot of European markets saw increases this year compared to last year and I think it all has to do with the popularity of the Hollywood films in Europe. 2014 saw few big successes because there was nothing very interesting (Maleficent, Trans4rmers, three B-class superhero films, Hobbit 3 and Hunger Games 3). 2015 films were bound to be more popular.

I want Cameron to come down

We can only hope for strong walk-ups. I don't mind though. It's already broken records everywhere else and will break $2 billion WW. There's literally nothing more one could have wished for. It would be ideal if it out-grossed Furious 7 overseas but no big deal if it doesn't.

Weekend 31/12/2015 - 03/01/2016 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % Change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 67,992 -50.4% 291,351 2 2 Ένας Άλλος Κόσμος (Enas Allos Kosmos; aka Worlds Apart)[GR] 59,215 -25.4% 370,711 3 3 The Little Prince 27,015 N/A 27,015 1 4 In the Heart of the Sea 26,077 N/A 26,077 1 5 The Good Dinosaur 23,906 -33.4% 125,085 3 6 Joy 7,683 -32.1% 26,296 2 7 Point Break 4,461 -49.6% 20,123 2 8 Ουζερί Τσιτσάνης (Ouzeri Tsitsanis) [GR] 3,777 +11.6% 108,974 5 9 Brooklyn 3,195 N/A 3,195 1 10 Belle et Sebastien: L'aventure Continue (French) 2,831 N/A 2,831 1 Source: http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/2862/fotospa8a-vs-xartomantilon-o-tamiakos-antagonismos-sunexizetai-aka8ektos http://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-the-force-awakens-drops-at-half/ Cinemas were running full steam this week, with most films making more on weekdays than the weekend. The drops may look a bit too high but that is because New Year's Eve and New Year's Day fell on a Thursday and a Friday, which are counted as part of the weekend. During these two days, business was non-existent since most people were celebrating with friends and family. 'Star Wars 7' did admittedly drop more than expected - its second Saturday and Sunday dropped about a third from the corresponding days last weekend - but the holidays will continue until, and including, January 7 for schools and universities. With the only non-holiday day of the following week being a Friday, I doubt we will see any dramatic drop in attendance for most films. The attendance total for 'Star Wars 7' by its second Sunday is still far ahead of that for 'Worlds Apart' (291,351 vs 243,015), however there are signs that 'Worlds Apart' will have greater endurance: on Sunday it out-grossed 'Star Wars 7' by a bit and, when excluding the 31st and 1st, its daily average throughout the week was still around 23,000 admissions. The only thing in its way is 'Notias', Tasos Boulmetis's first film since 'Touch of Spice' (that small film that earned north of 1.25 million admissions and is estimated to have earned much more). However, that comes out on the 14th of January so a first-place finish for 'Worlds Apart' next weekend is not out of the question. 'The Little Prince' and 'In the Heart of the Sea' both had solid openings but nothing unexpected for a New Year weekend. 'The Good Dinosaur', on the other hand, continued nearly unabated with more tickets between Monday and Wednesday than on the weekend (as I said, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were very quiet so these numbers are in no way concerning). 'Joy' remains disappointing with its 11-day total matching what 'The Little Prince' and 'In the Heart of the Sea' made in 4 days. 'Point Break' fared even worse. They did open amidst blockbusters but they were wide releases and had every chance to succeed. Same stands for 'Belle et Sebastien 2', which had a terrible 86 admission per-theater average - something not unusual for French family films in the market (excluding 'Astérix et Obélix'). 'Brooklyn' had an OKish opening in just 10 theaters, as did 'The Assassin' (1,204 admissions in 3 theaters) and 'Marviglioso Boccaccio' (880 admissions in 3 theaters). Finally, 'Ouzeri Tsitsanis' posted a small, yet insignificant, increase, with its total unlikely to exceed 120,000 admissions.

@Killimano3 Can you update the list at the top? Basically: Furious 7, AoU, JW, Star Wars and Frozen (whose OS gross was updated recently)

What I can tell from the individual country forums, Star Wars is in for another small drop from Tuesday I think - around $35M (lol, I said the same thing for yesterday's gross, but I'm hoping I'll be a bit more accurate this time)

Not yet but I don't see it being much less than Monday. Around $35M prolly.

Foreign films increased by 24%. I don't see why Hollywood should be worrying. I don't want this to sound like a generalisation but as long as your money has increased, the fact that your share of the pie has decreased shouldn't worry you. Not unless this continues to happpen for many years. Just take a look at this table: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_China#Box_office_and_screens Except 2012, domestic share in China was above 50% and it has hit 61% before, in 2008. Nothing to worry about. The LA Times article is just American propaganda, in combination with some taken-out-of-context data.

Yeah, I agree it's pointless to do the comparison they way I'm describing it, but -judging from the numbers- I think that's how they do it. If anyone knows something more accurate, let us know.

China's just insane. Really fun to watch this market boom. What about Star Wars presales? When do they start?

SW7 might surpass JW by New Year's Eve, so it will even top 2015 calendar grosses: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view=calendargross&view2=domestic&yr=2015&p=.htm

Do the blue percentages represent changes from last Monday and Tuesday respectively?

Maybe this chart only takes inflation into account, i.e. the general increase in the price of goods and services. I don't think it takes ticket prices into account - and certainly not admissions, which are more difficult to calculate.

Spectre will surpass it though in WW grosses. IO will be at 7th place for 2015

Weekend 24-27/12/2015 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % Change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 137,128 N/A 137,128 1 2 Ένας Άλλος Κόσμος (Enas Allos Kosmos; aka Worlds Apart) [GR] 79,415 -16.7% 243,015 2 3 The Good Dinosaur 35,876 32.1% 75,634 2 4 Joy 11,312 N/A 11,312 1 5 Point Break 8,843 N/A 8,843 1 6 Ουζερί Τσιτσάνης (Ouzeri Tsitsanis) [GR] 3,385 -54.7% 102,828 4 7 Bridge of Spies 2,936 -64.6% 132,180 5 8 Carol 2,762 -52.4% 37,746 4 9 Spectre 2,391 -58.8% 481,556 7 10 Hotel Transylvania 2 2,344 64.3% 167,231 10 Source: http://flix.gr/news/box-office-24122015.html http://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-the-force-was-strong-with-christmas/ http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/2854/may-the-force-be-with-the-box-office-ellinikos-8riambos-gia-to-star-wars As if there weren't enough puns already about 'the force' in every single corner of the Internet, the impact of 'Star Wars 7' on the market was truly forceful. Christmas was forceful too though, in a different way. Entering with a few hundred tickets less than 'Furious 7', 'The Force Awakens' scored the 4th biggest opening of the year, the biggest opening for its franchise and Disney's biggest opening since 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' (153,500 admissions). There is no need to point out that other newcomers were essentially non-existent. On one hand, I think the holidays could help such films like 'Joy' and 'Point Break' reach respectable totals, but on the other, the critic and audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes are not very promising (to the extent that the Americans' preferences can be extrapolated to the Greeks). There is not much else to say for 'Star Wars' yet: as Joel M said, 350,000 admissions is the bare minimum, with a total above to 500,000 admissions not out of the question. The same number is one that 'Worlds Apart' is targeting. Excluding Christmas Eve's 7,074 admission take, Papakaliatis's modern romance drama scored a daily average of about 24,000 admissions during its second weekend, which is in fact slightly higher than its first-weekend daily average and its weekday daily average. If its daily average remains steady for the remainder of the holidays (through January 7), a final total above 500,000 admissions is a foregone conclusion and, in that case, 'What If...'s total is well within reach (531,447 admissions). I shall avoid comparing week-to-week grosses with 'What If...' since their release dates were very different. If that wasn't enough, the good news doesn't stop there. The news was as good as Pixar's 'The Good Dinosaur' (yeah, I agree, you can shoot me for that one), which actually increased during its second weekend. Even with 'The Little Prince' coming out next weekend, it is safe to say this film can reach a total of 150,000 admissions, if not more. Equally, 'Hotel Transylvania 2' remained in the Top 10 for a 10th week - a remarkable and rare feat. For the past few weeks, it's been maintaining momentum and could potentially get into the 2015's Top 10 highest-grossing films, although this greatly depends on how many screens it can keep next weekend and how big 'The Good Dinosaur' and 'The Little Prince' will end up being. Other animated films that had good holds or even increases were 'The Peanuts Movie', 'Mune', 'Inside Out' and 'Minions'. In contrast to the forceful positive impact of Christmas on the above films, the forceful negative impact of 'Star Wars 7' was felt by most other films. 'Ouzeri Tsitsanis', 'Bridge of Spies', 'Carol', 'Spectre', 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2' and 'Goosebumps' all fell precipitously, together with most hopes for anything better than a mediocre admisison total (based on prior expectations). 'The Lobster' and 'Youth' had nice increases and have already reached respectable totals - taking into account the small number of theatres at which they were playing. More next week but for now enjoy the holidays!

Sorry guys for pushing your expectations too high. Another report just came out saying that the film earned 137,128 admissions, around the same number that 'Furious 7' earned. Still a very impressive figure and all I can say is that it's gonna be an interesting race to the top, between 'Spectre', 'Worlds Apart' and 'Star Wars 7', for the title of biggest 2015 film. http://news.in.gr/culture/article/?aid=1500048500

'The Force Awakens' has earned more than 150,000 admissions during its first weekend and it may score the biggest opening of 2015, surpassing 'Spectre'. More later today... Source: http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=22784&subid=2&pubid=64308513

'Worlds Apart' earned 165,000 admissions in one week (Thursday to Wednesday). If the report is accurate then it made 70,000 fron Monday to Wednesday, which is 75% of what it made during its first four days. [EDIT: The daily average during its first four days is the same as the daily average during days 5 to 7.] Very impressive. It seems like no Star Wars can stop this train. Source: http://www.altsantiri.gr/lifestyle/espase-tamia-tenia-tou-papakaliati-165-000-isitiria-se-mia-evdomada/

Good thing that Wedsnesday made more than last Thursday. Does that mean that Fri-to-Sun weekend could have a minimal drop or even increase?

If it does, it will be the first time a film ever achieves two $200M+ weekends OS. Hope it does.

I don't know what sales are like in USD or EUR [UPDATE: go to Page 4 for table with grosses]. If you have the time you can add up the grosses at Box Office Mojo for each year and let us know. Otherwise I may do it later. The admissions have been around an average of 10-11M for the past decade. Year Tickets (millions) 2008 10.4 2009 12.3 2010 11.7 2011 10.8 2012 10.1 2013 9.2 2014 9.0 (Latest update to the above table and text: Feb 2016. Data now should be accurate) Here are also 2 interesting articles, one for the 2012 box office and one for 2015: http://variety.com/2012/film/news/greek-box-office-tragedy-1118062148/ http://variety.com/2015/biz/global/greece-box-office-increases-2015-1201665056/

Welcome to the forum. Don't forget to visit the International section (http://forums.boxofficetheory.com/forum/41-international-box-office/) and the Greek thread as well (http://forums.boxofficetheory.com/topic/20431-greece-worlds-apart-scores-biggest-opening-of-the-year-among-greek-films-star-wars-7-opens-on-thursday/), especially if you have information to offer.

It's 6 days not 4. You guys at the domestic section of the forum forget that the film opened on Wednesday in some other countries (you know - the parts of the world that aren't the US).

Usually films increase on the 23rd, don't they? Worst-case scenario should be that SW7 stays flat on Wednesday.