Chinese Star Wars fans watched the premiere night of the seventh installment of the Star Wars franchise wearing Stormtrooper costumes in Shanghai on Dec. 27. Although the movie has yet to be officially released yet in China, it already broke the $1 billion mark worldwide.

Director J.J. Abrams, who went to the Chinese premiere with a friend, said he was delighted to see Chinese fans enjoying the Chinese premiere in Shanghai. The film is scheduled to hit theaters nationwide on Jan. 9, 2016.

Like Us on Facebook

Breaking box-office records, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" accumulated a total of $1 billion worldwide earnings in just 12 days. It has officially become the fastest movie to do such a feat. The previous movie to achieve that record was "Jurassic World," which reached $1B in 13 days earlier this year.

One of "Star Wars" producers, Kathleen Kennedy, dubbed the movie's success as "a huge surprise." She also noted that she hoped the movie will play really well in China.

Kennedy also mentioned that the production had just wrapped up shooting of "Rogue One," a spin-off of the "Star Wars" universe. The movie will feature popular Hong Kong martial arts actor Donnie Yen and Chinese actor and director Jiang Wen.

Shanghai International Film Festival mounted a week-long event that featured all the six Star Wars franchise installments for the public to see, a first in China. According to reports, tickets were immediately sold out with excited movie fans watching the movies wearing Stormtrooper and C-3PO-themed t-shirts.

Reuters recently reported that Star Wars has received 700 thousand mentions on Sina/Weibo in December, dominating discussion, compared with other major 2015 Hollywood releases.  

TagsStar Wars, Star Wars premiere, Star Wars fans, Stormtroopers