The highest grossing film on New Year, which broke the records of ‘Avatar’ and ‘Titanic’

New Year i.e. 1st January may be a holiday, but the film industry capitalizes on it well. Big films are released in theaters on Christmas (worldwide) and Sankranti (in South India), but very few films hit the screens on New Year weekend. Still, there are a number of movies that made millions of dollars during the holidays, most of which are from December. The biggest of these films has set a record that is unlikely to be broken any time soon. In 2015, ‘Star Wars’ returned to theaters in the form of a sequel trilogy. The first of the new films, ‘The Force Awakens’, was released on December 18, 2015 and took the box office by storm. Earning over half a billion dollars in its first weekend, Star Wars Episode VII rewrote the record books. It maintained its momentum in the second and third weeks.

New Year collection of ‘The Force Awakens’

The film earned $39 million (i.e. Rs 33,40,59,570) worldwide on the evening of December 31, 2015. Then, on New Year’s Day, it took a big leap, earning $35 million (Rs 2,99,79,70,500) in North America and $26 million (Rs 22,27,06,380) overseas. ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ broke everyone’s record by collecting $100 million i.e. Rs 8,56,56,30,000 on the New Year.

‘Titanic’ was the highest grossing film on New Year

For a long time, the record of ‘New Year’s Day Collection’ has been held by one or the other film of James Cameron. The filmmaker’s ‘Titanic’ had grossed $11.5 million in North America on January 1 in 1998. However, the crown was briefly snatched from Cameron’s head in 2004, when ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ grossed more than $12 million.

‘The Force Awakens’ breaks the record of ‘Avatar’

But on January 1, 2010, ‘Avatar’ broke that record with a domestic collection of $25 million. However, by earning the most, ‘The Force Awakens’ set a new record in 2016 with $35 million, which still stands today. Ultimately, ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ grossed more than $2 billion i.e. Rs 171,155,794,000 at the worldwide box office. As of January 1, 2025, it is the 5th highest-grossing film of all time.