肖恩·羅賓斯

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.

從今以后，2015年不妨就簡單地命名為迪士尼之年。自上一年Mouse House轟動地宣布斥資40億收購盧卡斯電影公司，并跟進新的《星球大戰(zhàn)》電影以來過去了373天，我們現在知曉此片將“何時”公諸于世：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.

當迪士尼首席執(zhí)行官鮑勃·艾格重申電影不會推遲到2016年就已經透出了蛛絲馬跡，盡管盧卡斯影業(yè)總裁凱瑟琳·肯尼迪想效法艾布拉姆斯也如此要求，且《星球大戰(zhàn)2：帝國反擊戰(zhàn)》的編劇勞倫斯·卡斯丹從邁克爾·阿恩特（《玩具總動員3》與《陽光小美女》）那里接管了編劇職責。我們知道2015年夏季首映被證實沒有任何機會了。

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擁擠啊，考慮到貫穿2016年初可能的一長串排片，這是件好事。

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.

《星球大戰(zhàn)7》標志著它將是該系列首部不在5月上映的電影。不過，它還是保留了該系列在重大節(jié)日前上映的傳統(tǒng)。雖然喬治·盧卡斯曾在美國陣亡將士紀念日前亮相他的六部電影，未來時代的星球大戰(zhàn)已經把訴求鎖定在圣誕節(jié)觀影季的高額利潤。

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？

粉絲在2014年年初開機拍攝之前討論的焦點可以轉移到議論演員的陣容，那么對《星球大戰(zhàn)7》的票房潛力我們能期待些什么呢？

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）.

還是來解決首要問題吧：需要考慮到首映周末紀錄的可能，盡管在歷史上12月并不以提供全時紀錄著稱。以往6個最高首映紀錄都在夏季誕生，2001年11月的《哈利·波特與魔法石》是唯一例外的非夏季影片。反之，目前12月記錄保持者是上一年的《霍比特人：意外之旅》，收獲了8460萬美元——我們猜想《星際大戰(zhàn)7》超過這個數值應該不會有什么麻煩（亦即，如果《霍比特人》能再多保留兩年這項桂冠）。

Nearing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II's midnight record （$43.5 million） could be on the table as well. That film had the benefit of a mid-July debut when kids are out of school， but that was before the current trend of midnight Friday launches being axed in favor of 8pm Thursday openings.

差不多《哈利·波特與死亡圣器（下）》的午夜記錄（4350萬美元）也能攤開來說。此片由于7月中旬亮相而受益，當時孩子們都放假了，但這只是在周五午夜發(fā)布被撤銷了的目前趨勢之前，取而代之的是周四下午8點的首映禮。

Of course， Star Wars isn't Disney's only mega-tentpole in 2015. The Avengers： Age of Ultron is still set for release on May 1 that year， and you can safely bet it will be gunning for its predecessor's standing record launch of $207，438，708. They also have a reimagining of Cinderella set for March， Pixar's Inside Out in June， Marvel's Ant- Man in July， and Pixar's The Good Dinosaur in November.

當然，《星球大戰(zhàn)7》不是迪士尼2015年唯一最重要的臺柱。《復仇者聯(lián)盟：奧創(chuàng)時代》仍定檔于該年的5月1日，你可以放心打賭本片將超越其前作創(chuàng)下的207，438，708美元紀錄。他們還有定檔5月的新版《灰姑娘》、皮克斯6月檔的《腦中小小人》、漫威7月檔的《蟻人》、以及皮克斯11月檔的《恐龍之家》。

Wowed yet？

驚嘆嗎？