B
LOS ANGELES—The last of the “Star Wars” movies has done what no movie in history has ever done—sold $50 million worth of tickets in a single day.
“Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith” made 50,013,859 from showings at 3,661 theaters and more than 9,000 screens around the country on Thursday, including special midnight shows. That beat the one-day record set by “Shrek 2”, which sold $44.8 million on a single Saturday—its fourth day in theaters.
“It’s surprising.” said Bruce Snyder, president of domestic distribution at Twentieth Century Fox. “It’s probably 20 percent more than I thought we could do.”
The George Lucas film, which features the changing of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into the evil Darth Vader, also beat the opening day record held by “Spider-Man 2”, which made $40.4 million when it opened on a Wednesday last June.
“Fifty million is a good opening weekend, especially a single day,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations. “This is the movie world’s 100-year flood.”
The news comes as a relief to Hollywood, which has seen a box office slump for 12 straight weeks. Theater owners, studios and marketing partners had their hopes on “Star Wars” to start the summer movie season and they weren’t disappointed.
The film was shown on 2,900 screens at midnight Thursday. What they made from that one showing alone was $16.5 million, which beat the previous record of $8 million set by “The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King”. It is almost certain “Star Wars” will push past the $100 million mark for its opening weekend. The record for a three-day weekend is held by the first “Spider-Man”, which made $114.8 million.
5. How many films are mentioned in the passage?
A. Three. B. Four. C. Five D. Six.
6. Which is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. “Shrek 2” sold $44.8 million on a single Saturday.
B. “Star Wars” made $50,013,859 on Thursday as expected.
C. “Star Wars” was not disappointing to the theater owners.
D. “Star Wars” may push past the $100 million mark for its opening weekend.
7. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. the film was shown on 2000 screens at midnight Thursday
B. the first “Spider-Man” held the record for a three-day weekend
C. “Star Wars” was shown all over the world
D. many good films have their follow-ups
