We all know that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is going to rake it in at the worldwide box office, with predictions of a $600 million + global opening weekend, and now analyst Tim Nollen has told The Hollywood Reporter that tie-in products for the hotly-anticipated blockbuster could pull in around $5 billion in sales within the first twelve months.
“The Force Awakens could generate $5 billion in consumer merchandise sales in its first year of release, assuming it does better than Cars 2’s $3 billion,” states Nollen. “This would easily net Disney about $500 million in licensing and retail revenue. Cars 2 sold more than $2.8 billion worth of merchandise in its first year alone in 2011, and the original Cars movie sold approximately $10 billion worth of merchandise in its first five years of release. Taking into account the strength of the Star Wars franchise, which has altogether sold over $20 billion worth of licensed goods in its lifetime, we estimate that Star Wars: The Force Awakens could perhaps bring in merchandise sales of $5 billion in the first year.”
Disney’s wave of Star Wars merchandise is set to be unleashed this week on Force Friday, and you can take a look at some promotional posters here, along with a LEGO Star Wars commercial here and Hasbro’s full catalogue of action figures and accessories here.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set for release on December 18th and sees J.J. Abrams directing returning stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), in addition to Adam Driver (Girls), Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year), Andy Serkis (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Silent Witness), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Ken Leung (Lost), Miltos Yerolemou (Game of Thrones), Max von Sydow (The Exorcist), Jessica Henwick (Spirit Warriors), Christina Chong (24: Live Another Day), Simon Pegg (Star Trek) and newcomers Crystal Clarke and Pip Andersen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=qvTY7eXXIMg
Originally published August 31, 2015. Updated December 16, 2019.
