See how 'Star Wars' R2D2, Stormtroopers invade The White House
The force is strong with The White House.
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' smashed the opening night record in the United States and Canada and was poised to become one of the biggest grossing movies ever, industry experts said Friday.
Fans flocked to theaters in the early hours of the morning to catch a first glimpse of the seventh film in the highly anticipated Star Wars saga.
Several theaters even planned to play the movie throughout the night to keep up with customer demand.
Crowds in the thousands were pictured waiting in lines for hours for the midnight screenings, some even camping out for days.
The White House was not immune to the Star Wars mania and Obama rushed to finish a press conference so that he and Gold Star families and children of fallen soldiers could catch a glimpse of the film in a special White House screening.
A gaggle of Stormtroopers and the droid R2-D2 were spotted in the West Wing on Friday - there was a screening of 'Star Wars' for people who lost family in the Iraq war.
Giving an end-of-year press conference, President Barack Obama revealed he too was swept up by the mania.
Obama was referring to a showing of the film that he and first lady Michelle Obama hosted for military families.
Before the screening, R2-D2 and some Stormtroopers took some time to explore the White House, appearing at the briefing room and meeting Sunny and Bo Obama.
"Clearly, this is not the most important thing that's taking place in the White House today," he joked.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest also appeared unannounced at the lectern of the briefing room, flanked by Stormtroopers.
The latest instalment of the highly anticipated space epic raked in $57 million for its opening night Thursday, easily beating the previous record -- $43.5 million -- held by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" in 2011.
Disney gushed that combined with Friday figures, ticket sales "are pointing to a total day of $100M+ for a new industry record... and the first triple-digit-million day ever!"
AFP
AFP
AFP