I don't know, I think it really entered mainstream when the OT Special Editions were released in theaters in the 90's. I mean there was passing references to it before then, but I think it really hit once the SE's came out.

I think you have to define what you mean by "main stream."

If you mean more people than ever are cos-playing Star Wars and outwardly wearing their fandom, then I guess this idea that it wasn't main stream during the 80's is true.

I don't get why you dislike that though. More money being pumped into a franchise is rarely bad for the expansion and longevity of it's fictional universe.

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Star Wars wasn't mainstream?

Absolutely ridiculous. It was one of most popular movies of all time. It was at the theaters for over 1 year. Every kid had tons of Star Wars toys and shirts.

It was a summer film. We returned to school in fall. On third day of school, principle had to bring entire school into auditorium. We were threatened with suspensions. All of us were doing the Vader breathing noises constantly and disrupting teachers.

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And by 1985, those t-shirts were replaced by He-Man and Transformers. Today, Star Wars is huge, even without movies. There's a difference.

38 million or so internationally yesterday, so it's well north of 1.2 billion now.
It's really becoming almost farcical, it made nearly 60 million dollars yesterday all told, a 80 percent or more of movies would likely be happy with that and the Monday draw as their final gross. And those are just two random weekdays almost two weeks after release.

Oh, and 1.5 billion by end of Sunday isn't completely out of the question. It needs around 272 million to do it.

It's funny, just a few days ago I was saying a billion domestic seemed too optimistic.

Now it seems inevitable.

I would be curious to see a comparison between movies now and the movies on their list that include the following items:

1.) Average movie run in theaters
2.) Number of movies it opened against
3.) Number of highly regarded movies that opened during their run in theaters
4.) Average time before the movie could be owned privately
5.) Number of times the movie was re-released

I almost feel like it's more fair to compare those movies initial runs with TFA due to the monumental differences in how entertainment is now versus how it was from the 30s-80s.

No doubt it's an unfair comparison. There were probably 1/3 as many movies back then, they stayed in theaters MUCH longer, and most of those on the list were re-released several times.

If they were only counting original releases it would be a slightly more even playing field.

I'm probably going to chip in a few more bucks to see it again this weekend.

Not to mention back then this was the ONLY way to see movies. Now we usually see films once in the theater, and if we really like it we buy the BluRay to come out 3-4 months later.

It's almost more fair to add in home video sales to the theatrical run to get a better picture of how these movies stack up to the old ones. Again, it's still not an apples to apples comparison, but right now the fight ain't fair for modern flicks vs. the old.

Meh, it's not like it matters.

Crazy to think -- since the movie's release, it's only grossed below $30m on two days. It did $27m on Christmas Eve, and $29m yesterday.

The number of days Avatar and Titanic grossed $30m+? Zero.

One of the many things that makes the box office runs of those two films so impressive.

Updated.



I'll try to post the updated graph as it passes more milestones.

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I think Star Wars entered mainstream with the first prequel. I wasn't alive with the release of the first movie and was too young for the second and third, but I don't recall Star Wars being part of mainstream culture in the late 80s and 90s. To be honest though, I don't think any movie could really hit mainstream pre internet. With things like Comic-Con and multiple comic book movies coming out every year, geek culture is now part of pop culture.

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I was born in 1974. The original movies dominated my childhood like nothing else in existence. Character toys, fast food tie ins and other things that are now part and parcel of every big budget movie that comes out didn't exist in any major way until Star Wars. The first prequel was huge, of course, because it was building on the collective love that two generations already had for these movies.

You are correct that geek culture is mainstream in a way that it wasn't in the past, but Star Wars was never a geek culture movie. For anyone who was 0-20 when the original movies came out, those movies were the defining event of our childhoods/adolescence.

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To be honest though, I don't think any movie could really hit mainstream pre internet.

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And this is just funny.

The movies were huge when they were released, but kids didn't go crazy over Star Wars in the late 80s thru the 90s. Nobody I knew cared about the movies, I never saw toys at the store, none of my friends had Star Wars birthday parties. Star Wars wasn't cool. Now it is.

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I think Star Wars entered mainstream with the first prequel. I wasn't alive with the release of the first movie and was too young for the second and third, but I don't recall Star Wars being part of mainstream culture in the late 80s and 90s. To be honest though, I don't think any movie could really hit mainstream pre internet. With things like Comic-Con and multiple comic book movies coming out every year, geek culture is now part of pop culture.

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Giggle

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The movies were huge when they were released, but kids didn't go crazy over Star Wars in the late 80s thru the 90s. Nobody I knew cared about the movies, I never saw toys at the store, none of my friends had Star Wars birthday parties. Star Wars wasn't cool. Now it is.

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Double giggle

Am I wrong? Why wasnt everyone going crazy over the movies during my childhood? Why wasn't Toys R Us littered with toys?

How old are you? Star Wars was everywhere in the early-mid 80s.

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The movies were huge when they were released, but kids didn't go crazy over Star Wars in the late 80s thru the 90s. Nobody I knew cared about the movies, I never saw toys at the store, none of my friends had Star Wars birthday parties. Star Wars wasn't cool. Now it is.

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Maybe all your childhood friends were lame???

Me and all my friends where huge Star Wars Fans from the late 80s on and I was born in 83...

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How old are you? Star Wars was everywhere in the early-mid 80s.

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I'm 36, born in 79. I'm sure it was everywhere early 80s. Where was it in 1992?

Up your ass and round the corner.

I can somewhat see where he's coming from though. Born in 88, and at least in my experience, Star Wars wasn't particularly popular among kids my age until 98 or 99 when TPM-mania was in full swing.

After that, it was everywhere. Video games, toys, books, etc.

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How old are you? Star Wars was everywhere in the early-mid 80s.

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I'm 36, born in 79. I'm sure it was everywhere early 80s. Where was it in 1992?

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Maybe you were not that cool of a kid. Or maybe your friends were lame.

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Am I wrong? Why wasnt everyone going crazy over the movies during my childhood? Why wasn't Toys R Us littered with toys?

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I remember they re-released the toys when I was a kid in the early 90s and they were damn near impossible to keep on the shelves for months. I wasn't a huge Star Wars fan but I was aware of it.

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Where was it in 1992?

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X-wing 1993, TIE Fighter 1994.

At some point today, TFA will surpass Frozen as the #8 highest grossing movie of all time worldwide.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/

Domestically, it should passing The Avengers for #4 of all time right around this very moment.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm

27.2-28M Wednesday

Born in 77. Other than my Nintendo and some Transformers, all the coolest toys I remember having were Star Wars

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How old are you? Star Wars was everywhere in the early-mid 80s.

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I'm 36, born in 79. I'm sure it was everywhere early 80s. Where was it in 1992?

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This was when the Star Wars books started coming out. I was in Junior High and I remember reading them from about 1993 through high school.

And just to nerd out a little, we played the Star Wars RPG in the early 90s.

In 1994 I remember getting a subscription to Star Wars Insider, the magazine.

It was definitely mainstream, everybody knew what it was and it was out there.

Born in 67 so prime age of 10 for SW. Figures were the big thing but I also had lunch boxes and sheet sets. I remember by dad being pissed I spent 4 bucks on a little doll.

Born in '83 (the week RotJ was released), and I definitely remember my brother and I having some Star Wars action figures in the late 80s. Also, one of 3 VHS tapes I remember having as a kid was a copy of Return of the Jedi my parents recorded off of TV.

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The movies were huge when they were released, but kids didn't go crazy over Star Wars in the late 80s thru the 90s. Nobody I knew cared about the movies, I never saw toys at the store, none of my friends had Star Wars birthday parties. Star Wars wasn't cool. Now it is.

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I was born in 76 and Star Wars OWNED my elementary experience.

27.5 - 27.9 yesterday.

http://deadline.com/2015/12/the-hateful-eight-star-wars-the-force-awakens-daddys-home-box-office-1201674208/