Will audiences turn out in record force for ‘Star Wars’?

“I would be very, very surprised if it came in below $175 million,” said Bruce Nash, president of film industry research firm Nash Information Services. “But it’s an interesting question because the really huge weekends have been during the summer. We are talking about something that is just such a huge outlier from a ‘typical’ December release.”

The five largest North American debuts of all-time have occurred during the summer months. The record for the biggest December opening of all time is held by “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which debuted at $84.6 million in 2012.

There are distractions competing for consumers’ attention in December, to be sure. Many people are likely to be wrapping up their holiday shopping during the weekend the “Star Wars” film opens. And, fewer than 20 percent of schools are out for holiday break on the day the film premieres, said Dave Hollis, Burbank-based Disney’s head of distribution.

“We will measure success by the total run, when we are months and months from December, looking back on what we expect to be a fantastic film experience, and something that has hopefully delivered on and exceeded the expectations of not only ‘Star Wars’ fans but moviegoers everywhere,” he said.

Early ticket sales for the film, which will be shown in 3-D and on Imax screens, are buoying expectations for a record-breaking weekend.

The hoped-for blockbuster has already racked up more than $50 million in advance domestic ticket sales, a record for the industry, according to people familiar with the movie’s performance. (Not all the advance sales are for screenings during the first weekend.)