Force Awakens Breaks Box Office Records Because of Repeat Viewers — and Women
It’s no secret that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been cleaning up at the box office; the film shot past $1 billion globally more quickly than any other film (of all time!). Plus it garnered the biggest Christmas weekend haul in North American box office history. Thanks to exit surveys, we know who’s been going to see the movie; part of the reason The Force Awakens has done well is that people have been seeing it over and over. The other reason it’s been making bank? Women like it.
To be specific, more women viewers have been checking out The Force Awakens in the second wave (or third, or fourth). Although the attendees during the movie’s opening weekend skewed male at 67%, that gender breakdown has changed a little bit over the Christmas holiday. According to The Hollywood Reporter, men made up 62% of the audience last weekend, with women at 38%.
The attendees of The Force Awakens have grown in racial diversity as well:
Initially, 63 percent of ticket buyers were Caucasian, followed by Hispanics (12 percent) and African-Americans (10 percent). Over Christmas weekend, those numbers changed to 57 percent, 15 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
In other words, white guys made up the first wave of Star Wars viewers, but then everybody else wanted to check out the movie too — at record-breaking rates! Seems like making a movie with a charming, relatable, diverse cast has paid off for Disney and Lucasfilm. I mean, sure, it’s also a fun movie for any number of other reasons — but seeing heroes who look like you and your own group of friends? Well, that can’t hurt.
(via Jezebel, image via Giphy)
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