'Sith' destroys box office records despite Internet piracy

Posted Friday, May 20, 2005 at 3:25 PM Central

by John Couture

Mere hours after letting all the sun-deprived geeks in to see the final installment Star Wars, illegal copies were rumored to be circulating the Internet. Despite George Lucas' best efforts to prevent piracy (including a simultaneous worldwide release), it seems that ala Revenge of the Sith, the dark side won out.

Of course, the force is strong with Lucas and he shouldn't have to worry too much. Receipts from the midnight screenings on Wednesday night/Thursday morning show that Revenge of the Sith brought in over $16.5 million, besting the previous midnight screening record of $8 million earned by The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King.

Additionally, Revenge of the Sith broke another box office record by tallying $50 million in its first day of release (Thursday). The previous first day record belonged to Spider-Man 2 with $40.4 million, while Shrek 2 previously held the single day record when it hauled in $44.8 million in its fourth day of release last year.

The next record in its sights is the largest opening weekend currently held by The Matrix Reloaded with $134.3 million in 2003.