Star Wars: The Force Awakens: One key takeaway from the film's $1 billion haul

Star Wars: The Force Awakens cannot be stopped. Over the holiday weekend, the movie crossed the $1 billion box office mark thanks to a $153.5 million domestic gross this weekend and a $49.3 million Christmas day haul. Internationally, the movie made $133.3 million, and it has yet to debut in China (the movie will debut there on January 9). It took just 12 days for the movie to get to the billion dollar benchmark — the fastest in history.

TFA's success is a testament to the storytelling and history of the franchise. But it also should be a nail in the coffin of the myth that a female superhero movie can't be successful. Even with ultra-successful female-led franchises like The Hunger Games and Underworld, box-office juggernauts like Frozen, or even the so-bad-they're-good Resident Evil moneymakers, there are still people who think that people won't go see a female superhero movie. That's part of the reason that Marvel's first solo superhero movie, Captain Marvel, isn't coming until 2019.

Rey (Daisy Ridley), the protagonist of TFA, can move objects with her mind, hold her own with lightsaber battles, and can fly spaceships. She's pretty much a superhero, though she isn't technically labeled as one. And this female superhero is the main character — the movie's secondary protagonists are men of color — in one of the most successful movies in history.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via