Star Wars: The Force Awakens generated more than half a billion dollars in its opening weekend, smashing the box office record in the US and underscoring why Walt Disney paid $4bn for the rights to the series three years ago.

电影《星球大战：原力觉醒》(Star Wars: The Force Awakens)在首发周末就收得逾5亿美元票房，打破了美国票房纪录，从而凸显出三年前沃尔特迪士尼公司(Walt Disney)斥资40亿美元购买该系列版权的原因。

The film grossed $238m in the US, higher than the $208m mark set this year by Universal Studios’ Jurassic World, and an additional $279m around the world.

该电影在美国共斩获2.38亿美元票房，超过了今年由环球影业(Universal Studios)的《侏罗纪世界》(Jurassic World)创下的2.08亿美元纪录。此外，该电影在全球其他地区还收得2.79亿美元票房。

It set records in markets including the UK, Germany, Australia and Russia. Global returns will climb further on January 9 when the film opens in China, the second-largest movie market after the US.

在包括英国、德国、澳大利亚和俄罗斯在内的各个市场，该电影创下了票房纪录。由于中国是仅次于美国的第二大电影市场，1月9日该电影在中国首映时，其全球票房还将进一步攀升。

The Force Awakens is the first of six Star Wars films commissioned by Disney, which will use the characters created by George Lucas to drive consumer product sales and visits to its theme parks. Macquarie Securities estimates that The Force Awakens alone could generate $5bn in consumer product sales, with Disney earning $500m-$1bn in royalties.

《原力觉醒》是迪斯尼委托制作的六部星球大战电影中的第一部，该公司将利用由乔治戠慓斯(George Lucas)创造的人物形象，增加消费类产品的销售及其主体公园的游客人数。麦格理证券(Macquarie Securities)估计，仅《原力觉醒》一部电影就能带来50亿美元的消费类产品销售额，其中迪斯尼赚取的版税将在5亿美元到10亿美元之间。

The Force Awakens could lift total annual US box office returns past $11bn for the first time and power global takings above $40bn, according to Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst with Rentrak, which monitors box office performance.

根据Rentrak资深分析师保罗德加拉伯迪安(Paul Dergarabedian)的说法，《原力觉醒》或许会首次将美国全年总票房推升至超过110亿美元，并导致全球总票房超过400亿美元。Rentrak是一家跟踪研究电影票房收入的机构。

The launch of the first Star Wars film in a decade comes amid concerns about the growth prospects of ESPN, Disney’s sports cable network — and the main driver of the company’s profits. Rich Greenfield, analyst with BTIG Research, cut his earnings estimates for 2017, warning that ESPN’s profitability would “meaningfully underperform investor expectations”.

这是十年内推出的首部星球大战电影，该电影推出之际，人们正在担心迪斯尼旗下体育电视网ESPN的增长前景——该电视网是迪斯尼盈利的主要来源。BTIG Research分析师里奇格林菲尔德(Rich Greenfield)降低了对迪斯尼2017年的盈利估计，并警告说ESPN的盈利能力或将“大大低于投资者预期”。

Disney’s media networks division, which includes ESPN, generates more than 50 per cent of group operating income. However, ESPN has high, fixed costs based on its acquisition of marquee sports rights at a time of shifting viewing behaviour: the sports network lost an estimated 3m subscribers in the year to August, according to Nielsen, the research firm.

包括ESPN在内的迪斯尼媒体网络部门所产生的营业利润超过了该集团的50%。不过，根据研究机构尼尔森(Nielsen)的说法，对室内体育赛事转播权的收购，为ESPN带来了高昂的固定成本，而如今观众的收视行为却处于变化之中：在截至今年8月的一年里，该体育电视网的注册人数估计丧失了300万。