Star Wars Breaks World Box-Office Records

The latest Star Wars movie has broken three Guinness World Records, it
was announced today.They were previously held by Keanu Reeves thrillers,
The Matrix Revolutions and The Matrix Reloaded. Star Wars: Episode III –
Revenge of the Sith has taken the record for highest box office film gross
on an opening day. George Lucas’s final Star Wars movie took an
astonishing £27,395,847 on its release in the US on May 19, compared to
£26.27 million for The Matrix Reloaded.

The Star Wars blockbuster has also broken the record for largest
simultaneous premiere. It was simultaneously released in a record 115
countries on May 19 – eclipsing The Matrix Revolutions which went out in
1994.

It has also claimed the title of widest film print run – the number of films
distributed to cinemas – for a single country. Revenge of the Sith was
given the largest print run of any film in history by 20th Century Fox with
9,000 sent out in the US, compared to 8,517 for The Matrix Reloaded.

Another Star Wars film, Episode I – The Phantom Menace, used to claim
the title of highest box office gross in an opening weekend. But its record
was broken by Spider-Man in 2002.

The new records will feature in the Stop Press Section of the 2006 edition
of Guinness World Records, to be published in September.