《星球大战7》定档12月18日――我们对票房能有什么期待?

Henceforth， let 2015 simply be known as The Year of Disney （if it wasn't already）.373 days since last year's blockbuster announcement that the Mouse House would move forward on a new Star Wars movie as part of their $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm， we now know *when* the world will see it： Friday， December 18， 2015.

从今以后，2015年不妨就简单地命名为迪士尼之年。自上一年Mouse House轰动地宣布斥资40亿收购卢卡斯电影公司，并跟进新的《星球大战》电影以来过去了373天，我们现在知晓此片将“何时”公诸于世：2015年12月18日，周五。

The writing was pretty much on the wall when Disney CEO Bob Iger reaffirmed the film wouldn't be pushed to 2016， despite Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's request to do so in the wake of Abrams and The Empire Strikes Back scribe Lawrence Kasdan taking over writing duties from Michael Arndt （Toy Story 3，Little Miss Sunshine）. We knew then that any chance of a Summer 2015 opening was officially gone.

当迪士尼首席执行官鲍勃・艾格重申电影不会推迟到2016年就已经透出了蛛丝马迹，尽管卢卡斯影业总裁凯瑟琳・肯尼迪想效法艾布拉姆斯也如此要求，且《星球大战2：帝国反击战》的编剧劳伦斯・卡斯丹从迈克尔・阿恩特（《玩具总动员3》与《阳光小美女》）那里接管了编剧职责。我们知道2015年夏季首映被证实没有任何机会了。

When looking at how crowded that year is， and considering the potential of a leggy run through early 2016， that's a very good thing.

看看那一年排片多么拥挤啊，考虑到贯穿2016年初可能的一长串排片，这是件好事。

Episode VII will mark the first movie in the franchise to open in a month other than May. It does， however， hold up the series' tradition of opening one week before a major holiday. Whereas George Lucas debuted his six films prior to Memorial Day， the next era of Star Wars has staked its claim for the highly lucrative Christmas moviegoing season.

《星球大战7》标志着它将是该系列首部不在5月上映的电影。不过，它还是保留了该系列在重大节日前上映的传统。虽然乔治・卢卡斯曾在美国阵亡将士纪念日前亮相他的六部电影，未来时代的星球大战已经把诉求锁定在圣诞节观影季的高额利润。

While fan debate can now shift focus to casting rumors before filming begins in early 2014， what can we start expecting in terms of Episode VII's box office potential？

粉丝在2014年年初开机拍摄之前讨论的焦点可以转移到议论演员的阵容，那么对《星球大战7》的票房潜力我们能期待些什么呢？

Let's address the elephant in the room： a potential opening weekend record has to be considered. Historically， though， December isn't known for delivering all-time

records. The last six opening crowns belong to summer releases， with November 2001's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone representing the only non-summer film to ever own it. Conversely， the current December record belongs to last year's The Hobbit： An Unexpected Journey and its $84.6 million--a figure which we imagine Star Wars should have little trouble surpassing （that is， if The Hobbit retains that particular trophy for two more years）.