As Star Wars:  The Force Awakens opens around the world (almost everywhere except China, where it opens in January), it’s worth noting three ways the business of Star Wars is different from the business of other geek films, and not just in scale. 

Advance Ticket Sales
Star Wars:  The Force Awakens isn’t just breaking records for advance ticket sales, it’s eviscerating them.  Four weeks before the opening weekend, advance ticket sales hit $50 million, twice the previous record of $25 million set by The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 (see “’Star Wars:  The Force Awakens’ Advance Ticket Sales Double Previous Record”).  Now this week, advance sales have topped $100 million for showings through New Year’s, with $50 to $60 million of those sales for the opening weekend, according to Hollywood Reporter. 

Star Wars may be helping to advance the change in how people buy movie tickets.  While online movie ticket sales have been around since the turn of the century, more theaters have been adding reserved seating recently, a big attraction for online sales.  And with what seems like big increases in the number of people buying reserved tickets for this film, it’s a change in habit that may carry over to future purchases and speed the day when waiting in line to buy tickets at the theater is a thing of the past.

Letting Other Companies Spend the Big Bucks on Marketing
With a film that arguably sells itself, Disney is not spending a record amount for what’s likely to be a record-breaking film, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Instead it’s counting on the “earned media” that comes from having a highly anticipated sequel; record spending by its seven “brand partners” for The Force Awakens, including Verizon, General Mills, and Cover Girl; spending by companies selling Star Wars-themed merchandise not directly tied to the movie; and tie-ins with other Disney companies such as ESPN and ABC.  

Disney is also keeping its marketing limited in another way:  it’s shown less than six minutes from the film in its various trailers and TV spots, compared to a typical reveal of 12-15 minutes for a heavily advertised movie.

Licensing Royalties Are Higher
With Disney Consumer Products taking over licensing of Star Wars from Lucasfilm, the amount of licensed merch being sold is hitting new highs (see “Estimate:  $2 Billion in ‘Star Wars’ Toys”).  There are reports that Disney is charging double the normal royalty rate for Star Wars, as high as 20% of sales, according to Seeking Alpha.  That compares to a normal rate for a movie license of around 10% of sales. 

This weekend, we’ll discover just how big Star Wars:  The Force Awakens is going to be in theaters, but it’s already changed the way business is done for Disney and its partners.