海角大神

The Na鈥檝i were no match for the Jedi.聽

鈥淪tar Wars: The Force Awakens鈥� has now become the highest-grossing movie domestically of all time without adjusting for inflation, beating 鈥淎vatar.鈥� 鈥淔orce鈥� has done so after coming out less than three weeks ago.聽

Some of the other movies 鈥淔orce鈥� has topped in order to secure this record include 鈥淭itanic鈥� and 鈥淛urassic World,鈥� which like 鈥淔orce鈥� was released this year.聽

If domestic movie grosses are adjusted for inflation, older titles like 鈥淕one With the Wind鈥� and the original 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� film still reign supreme.聽

鈥淔orce鈥� has already taken the title of highest-grossing movie of all time, so those at Disney most likely aren鈥檛 worrying too much about the months ahead. But it will be interesting to see how the box office fortunes of 鈥淔orce鈥� compare to, for example, 鈥淭itanic,鈥� a previous record-holder.

The last several years have shown a shift in thinking about movie release dates. Traditionally, the beginning of the year is a less full time for movies than, for example, December, in which lots of hopeful Oscar contenders are released.聽

In past thinking, the big times of the year for movies were the summer blockbuster movie season and November and December.

To some extent, that is still true. Recently, however, some studios have hit it big by releasing movies in months in which there was little competition. For example, when the live-action 鈥淎lice in Wonderland鈥� film came out in 2010, it was released in March, a traditionally quieter time at the multiplex, and did incredibly well. 鈥淥z the Great and Powerful鈥� did well in March the next year, too. And in 2014, the animated film 鈥淭he Lego Movie鈥� became a blockbuster after having been released in February.聽

Studios may be deciding that there is much to possibly be gained from releasing a film when there is less competition rather than the crowded summer or winter seasons.聽

So how will this affect 鈥淔orce鈥�? While it鈥檚 already become the highest-grossing movie of all time, its trajectory over the next few months may be quite different from that of another movie that held the record in its day: 鈥淭itanic.鈥澛�

When 鈥淭itanic鈥� came out, it held the box office top spot through the first few months of 1998 after having been released the previous December. Its competition did fine, but no other movie would hit $100 million until May, when the blockbuster season started and movies like 鈥淒eep Impact鈥� and 鈥淕odzilla鈥� arrived on the scene. 聽聽

By contrast, 鈥淔orce鈥� will face a movie industry where high-profile films are being released in the first months of the year. January will most likely be quiet, but superhero movie 鈥淒eadpool鈥� isn鈥檛 coming out during the summer blockbuster season 鈥� it鈥檚 set to be released in mid-February, which was once a quieter time in movies apart from romantic comedies tied to Valentine鈥檚 Day.

And 鈥淏atman v Superman,鈥� one of studio Warner Bros.鈥� most high-profile offerings, is coming out in March.

The movie season is now truly 12 months (well, mostly 鈥� January, to name one, can still be fairly quiet). 鈥淔orce鈥� has already taken the title, but its fortunes could be different than previous highest-grossing films as it heads into 2016.