'Revenge of the Sith' breaks box office records

With his new film making a rather large fortune, both at home and abroad, George Lucas will doubtless be laughing all the way to the bank.

May 23 2005

'Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith' shattered box office records all over the world on its release last week.

Playing on more than 9,000 screens at 3,661 theatres in America alone, the film grossed $50 million on its opening day, $83.8 million on day two, $124.7 million after three days and $158.5 million after four, all of which were records.

Internationally it also had cinema tills ringing, grossing an estimated $144.8 million since Thursday.

Playing on more that 10,000 screens in 104 countries, the film's huge worldwide release saw it easily out-gross previous record-holder 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' which managed $127 million in five days.

The UK release, with all the hoopla that surrounded it (see here), was unsurprisingly huge, raking in $26.8 million from 485 screens (though still falling short of 'Shrek 2's $29.6 million opening weekend last summer).

However, with 'Revenge of the Sith' reviews proving to be far more positive than the previous 'Star Wars' prequels, expect the film to continue to break box office records long into June.

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