‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Audience Is Mostly Men, New Trailer Breaks Record

We all watched helplessly on Monday night as Star Wars: The Force Awakens broke the internet, crashing several movie ticketing websites as fans scrambled to purchase their tickets for opening weekend. As it turns out, the internet isn’t the only thing that’s been broken: the final trailer for The Force Awakens also broke the record for most views in 24 hours, while a new report suggests that most of the people watching that trailer were men.

Lucasfilm has reported that the new Star Wars trailer was viewed over 112 million times in the 24 hours following its Monday night debut. 16 million people tuned in to watch the trailer when it premiered during halftime on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, bringing the grand total to 128 million views — or thereabouts. The latest trailer broke the record for most views in a 24-hour period, previously held by the second Star Wars teaser released back in April.

In addition, theater marketing data firm Movio (via THR) is reporting that the majority of people who purchased their tickets for The Force Awakens earlier this week were men aged 18 to 49, with the average age being 34. That’s hardly surprising data, considering that the fan base for Star Wars is largely comprised of men who grew up with the original trilogy and its prequels, though the franchise no longer really belongs to boys and men as it ceased being a niche property for male nerds years ago.

Not only have more women become fans of franchises and “nerdy” properties, but we’ve seen a sharp increase in women attending movies in recent years, which has translated to more women in leading roles in said films — like Daisy Ridley in The Force Awakens. Almost 50 percent of the audience for Guardians of the Galaxy, for instance, was made up of women, making it the most female-attended Marvel film to date.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18.

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