Rebellions are built on hope and, it seems, a massive Thursday night preview.

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" kicked off its North American debut with $29 million from early showings, marking the biggest Thursday preview of 2016, edging out "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's" $27.7 million and "Captain America: Civil War's" $25 million.

REVIEW: Charismatic "Rogue One" Cast Smooths Out a Rough "Star Wars" Story

With that tally, which included $3.7 million from 401 IMAX screens, the first "Star Wars" standalone film scored the seventh-largest Thursday preview of all time.

However, that's only for starters. The eighth installment in the sprawling franchise also raked in $33 million in its first two days of overseas release, with $5 million from that coming from the United Kingdom, followed by $3.6 million in Australia, where it enjoyed the biggest opening of the year, and $3.1 million each from France and Germany.

"Rogue One" is on a course for a domestic opening weekend of between $135 million and $150 million, which would give the film the second-best December debut of all time, behind 2015's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which grossed $57 million in previews on its way to a $248 million first weekend. It's anticipated to earn as much as an additional $200 million from international markets.

“Rogue One” is set just prior to the events of 1977’s “Star Wars,” and focuses on a ragtag group of Rebels that undertake a dangerous mission to steal the design plans for the Galactic Empire’s new planet-destroying superweapon, the Death Star.

Directed by Gareth Edwards, the film stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)