Walt Disney DIS -0.86% sent out an “It’s official!” press release Wednesday at around 4:30 p.m. PT, but in case you need hard confirmation, Wednesday’s $6.2 million gross for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has indeed pushed the Walt Disney film past the $760.5m domestic gross of James Cameron’s Avatar.J.J. Abrams’s sci-fi sequel is now the biggest grossing movie ever in America — if you don’t adjust for inflation, the 3D bump and the IMAX/PLF bumps. For the first time in 18 years, a James Cameron movie is not at the top of the charts, and for the first time in forty years, a film not helmed by James Cameron, George Lucas, or Steven Spielberg is the biggest movie ever in America. It really is the end of an era.
So here it is. The "Star Wars" of this generation. I finally saw it this past week. I'll say this. With all the money it's made the hype going in was there whether I wanted it to be or not and I'll be honest. Initially, there was a bit of a let down. It really wasn't an amazing movie. It was a really good movie. That was about it. However, the inclusion of Han Solo, Princess Leia (I think she's a General or something now) and Luke Skywalker (Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill) was brilliant. Oh yeah. Chewy too. :-) Can't forget him. R2d2 and C3PO show up as well. Bringing back all those guys (and girl) connected this movie to the original three. This one takes place thirty years later. As these different characters started showing up I started seeing my childhood. When I was seventeen I had brain surgery and as a result I don't remember a lot before my surgery. Interestingly enough though, the one memory I do have is Star Wars. Way back in the day...the early 80s...I was 8 or so, there were two times a year we could stay up. CBS would play The Sound of Music and Star Wars annually. I'm not sure how many years they did it. It might've only been once. All I know is I remember people being interviewed about how many times they'd seen Star Wars. This church choir had seen it 222 times I think. But I remember it. I don't remember a lot from my childhood but I remember that. It amazes me how much you grow to think of a movie character as family. Specifically, Han Solo. He really stood out in all three movies and then Harrison Ford's career took off afterward. Of course I followed it. I grew up watching him. He's been Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan, the President of the United States, a Fugitive on the run, and now once again, Han Solo.
So I sat there last week watching Episode Seven "The Force Awakens" and it gets to the end where Han Solo calls out to his son to try and to get him to come home. They meet on a bridge over a huge chasm. Kylo Ren, Han and Leia's son has a face to face encounter with his father and kills him. At that moment I felt I'd lost a family member. The guy I grew up with. Now, when I watch a movie really become a part of it. The fact that something as simple as a movie character/actor had such a
such a profound influence on my life that when he was gone I did a double take.
The generation of today is so different then mine For my generation (and those before me as well),
we saw it before it became a phenomenon. When it was just a fun story about a ragtag group of
people who end up fighting for a common cause. Now it's this Universe. I had a guy shocked that
when I went to see it I wasn't just awestruck at how amazing it was. Discussions on who is related to
who and why sis this person this and that and the list goes on and on and on. I was happy with my
action figures, the few space ships I got and the Star Wars lunch box. Now granted, movies and tv
are a huge part of my life but if just seeing the loss of a character I grew up has such an impact on
me what other parts in my life am I danger of losing and if I lose them will I be prepared? Will I
know? These are questions I'm asking myself.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2016/01/07/box-office-star
-wars-the-force-awakens-zooms-past-avatar-soars-to-764m-cume/
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