For many a science fiction fan within this galaxy, May 4th marks Star Wars Day – an event which sees aficionados of the hugely successful movie series celebrate Star Wars culture.
 
In case you hadn’t guessed, the date relates to a pun on one of the space saga’s most quoted lines – “May the force be with you”.
 
Today's celebration comes after the resounding success of Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens which was released last December. 

Directed by J. J. Abrams, this first instalment in a new trilogy of the sci-fi series saw the return of familiar characters such as Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca, as well as introducing a host of new characters to the saga, such as Finn, Rey and Po Dameron, a recipe that proved a huge hit at the box office, with the film achieving multiple new Guinness World Records titles to add to the already impressive list of accolades related to the franchise.
 
To mark today's occasion, we’ve delved deep into the Sarlacc pit-like depths of our database to bring you ten of our favourite Star Wars world records.
 

1. Fastest $100 million box office film gross

 
Surpassing the two-day milestone for the first time in box-office history, J J Abram's much-anticipated Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens (2015) achieved $119,119,282 (£79.8 million) in just 24 hours from its US release on 18 December 2015, according to The Numbers (www.the-numbers.com).
 
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This means it smashes the $151,598,780 (£97.6 million) earned over two days by Jurassic World on 12–13 June 2015.
 
Not surprisingly, Star Wars VII also claimed the US box-office records for fastest movie to gross $100 million and fastest movie to gross $200 million. Clearly, the Force is strong with this one…
 

2. Most watched movie trailer (official)

 
Before this, in April last year, the second teaser trailer for the new film smashed a social media record when it amassed an unbelievable 30.65 million views in the space of one day after being released. The release of the clip created unprecedented levels of excitement among Star Wars fans. By 22 February 2016, the trailer had a staggering 88,956,907 views.
 
 

3. Biggest-selling Star Wars videogame

 
As of 4 April 2016, LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts) had sold a brick-busting 15.57 million copies across four platforms: Wii, DS, PS3 and Xbox 360. First released on 6 November 2007, the game was a compilation of two previous games: LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (2005) and Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (2006).
 

4. Most valuable Star Wars action figure

 
You'll need to save up your credits if you hope to get a hold of Rocket Firing Boba Fett, the “Holy Grail” of Star Wars action figures. The prototype toy was revealed by Kenner at the 1979 toy fair, but safety concerns kept it from production. One of those prototypes surfaced on a 6 January 2016 episode of Pawn Stars and was valued by an independent collector at over US $125,000. The figure was then later listed on eBay for US $150,000. As of 26 February 2016, it had not yet been sold.
 

5. Largest Star Wars sculpture

 
The 11th Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force in Hokkaido spent almost one month crafting 3,175 tonnes (7 million lb) of snow into Snow Star Wars for the 66th Sapporo Snow Festival, which opened on 5 February 2015. The Lucasfilm-approved sculpture measured 15 m tall by 23 m wide (49 ft by 75 ft) and features a lightsaber-wielding Darth Vader with three Stormtroopers, Vader's TIE Advanced fighter and the Death Star.
 
Largest Star Wars sculpture
 

6. Largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia

 
Steve Sansweet (USA) has amassed an estimated 500,000 unique items at Rancho Obi-Wan in northern California, USA. As of 4 May 2015, "only" 93,260 items had been accurately audited and catalogued – a number sufficient, however, to beat the previous holder of this title by a factor of four. Sansweet estimates that the cataloguing process will take years to complete, as his collection continues to grow.
 
 

7. Largest plastic cup pyramid

 
A world record attempt inspired by a galaxy far, far away took place in December 2015 at the Paseo Acoxpa Cinépolis in Mexico City, Mexico. 42,925 plastic commemorative cups featuring Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens designs were carefully placed to make an incredible 8m tall, 5m wide pyramid.
 
 

8. Largest personal fortune made from a film franchise

 
Famously, George Lucas (USA) turned down his director’s fee for the first Star Wars film in 1977 in exchange for rights to all future merchandising and sequels. Lucas made $500 m (£215 m) between 1977 and 1980 from merchandise sales alone, having set up Lucasfilm Ltd in 1971 before founding special-effects company Industrial Light & Magic. In Mar 2015, Forbes estimated Lucas’s net worth at $5 bn (£3.3 bn), contributed to by the 2012 sale of Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 bn (£2.5 bn). He is nevertheless serving as creative consultant on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
 

9. First Star Wars videogame

 
The inaugural Star Wars videogame, The Empire Strikes Back (Parker Brothers, 1982) was based on the second film in the series and made for the Atari 2600 and Intellivision.
 
 

10. Most successful book series based on a film series

 
Lucas Licensing has recorded more than 100 million sales of Star Wars-related books, with over 850 novelizations, original novels, reference books, children’s books and role-playing supplements, including 80 New York Times best-sellers. The first original novel based on Star Wars characters was Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (1978), written by Alan Dean Foster (USA).
 
Star Wars Episode VIII is scheduled for release in December 2017.

For more amazing Star Wars records, check out a copy of Guinness World Records 2016: Blockbusters!, now available in the UK, Ireland and Australia which includes three spreads all about the franchise.

Star Wars spread Blockbusters

This brand new title from Guinness World Records features a huge range of records from showbiz, media, popular toys and technology.

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