The New Year may be a holiday but it is one that the movie industry has been wary of. While Christmas (worldwide) and Sankranti (in south India) do see big releases in theatres, not many come out for the New Year weekend. Yet, there have been films that have minted millions of dollars on the holiday, most of these carrying momentum from December. The biggest of them all set a record that is unlikely to be broken any time soon. (Also read: World's most profitable film of 2024 earned 45x its budget, beat Joker 2)
The highest-grossing film on New Year
In 2015, Star Wars returned to the theatres in the form of the sequel trilogy. The first of the new films - The Force Awakens - was released on December 18 and it created havoc at the box office. Minting over half a billion dollars in its opening weekend, Star Wars Episode VII rewrote the record books. But unlike many other big blockbusters, The Force Awakens maintained its momentum into its second and third weeks. Buoyed by the New Year holidays, the film earned $39 million worldwide on December 31, New Year's Eve. Then, it saw a huge jump on New Year's Day, earning an all-time record $35 million in North America and $26 million overseas. This gave Star Wars: The Force Awakens a $100-million haul on New Year.
How The Force Awakens beat Avatar and Titanic
For years, the New Year Day collection record had been held by one or the other James Cameron film. The filmmaker's Titanic had broken bank in 1998 when it earned $11.5 million in North America on January 1. Cameron's crown was briefly snatched in 2004 when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King minted over $12 million. On January 1, 2010, Avatar obliterated that record with a domestic collection of $25 million. Eventually, The Force Awakens broke that record in 2016 with earnings of $35 million, a record that stands to this day.
{{/usCountry}}For years, the New Year Day collection record had been held by one or the other James Cameron film. The filmmaker's Titanic had broken bank in 1998 when it earned $11.5 million in North America on January 1. Cameron's crown was briefly snatched in 2004 when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King minted over $12 million. On January 1, 2010, Avatar obliterated that record with a domestic collection of $25 million. Eventually, The Force Awakens broke that record in 2016 with earnings of $35 million, a record that stands to this day.
{{/usCountry}}Eventually, Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned over $2 billion at the worldwide box office. As of January 1, 2025, it is the 5th highest-grossing film ever.