How Disney Broke Records Without Even Trying

Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) broke worldwide box office records with the debut of its latest "Star Wars" film, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." The movie brought in an estimated $517 million in global ticket sales through Sunday and marked the biggest U.S. opening weekend in history.

The Journey To The Top

Back in 2012, Disney purchased Lucasfilm for $4 billion and brought the entire franchise under the company umbrella. That move is proving to be a lucrative one as the company has seen interest in its theme parks, set to unveil a Star Wars attraction, increase. Not only that, but Disney is set to make billions on this latest film and all the merchandise that goes along with it.

Small Marketing Budget

While the film's release was a huge success, Disney actually did very little to help it rise to the No. 1 spot. Some studios, like Warner Brothers, have spent upwards of $30 million in order to promote films that ended up flopping at box offices. On the contrary, Disney spent only $25.5 million to promote "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" with 24 different trailers.

Related Link: 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Heads The Biggest Box Office Weekend Of All Time

How'd It Happen?

"Star Wars" has such a huge following already that the film needed very little advertising to build up the hype, so Disney didn't have to do much in the way of marketing. Several brands were more than willing to get in on the action with their own "Star Wars"-branded marketing efforts.

Companies like Subway, CoverGirl and HP collectively spent an additional $68.1 million on Star Wars campaigns for their own products and another $51.4 million was spent on advertising for "Star Wars" products like video games and action figures. Social media was another catalyst for the film's success; the trailer was viewed some 75 million times on YouTube.