'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Expected To Launch $5 Billion In Merchandise Sales In First Year After Film's Release

While everyone is still trying to predict what the opening weekend box office numbers might be for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" — $200 million? $250 million? $300 million? — Disney is trying to play down expectations. Partially because, as chairman Alan Horn says, it's "uncharted territory," but also probably because it's only one part of a much bigger equation. At the end of the day, it appears whatever the movie earns in ticket sales will only be a slice of bigger financial cake.

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Variety reports that analyst Tim Nollen of Macquarie Securities predicts that the first year following the release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is expected to generate $5 billion dollars in franchise merchandise revenue. To put that figure in perspective, that's one-quarter of the $20 billion in "Star Wars" revenue the brand has manufactured in total across 38...