The new Star Wars movie could cost the US economy more than $300 million in lost productivity. On May 16, more than 2.6 million fans are expected to take a day off or phone in sick so they can watch Attack of the Clones. Chicago-based recruitment experts Challenger, Gray and Christmas made the prediction based on the fact that 5.7 million people turned up to see The Phantom Menace on its opening day. Assuming that viewers come from a random cross-section of the population, 46 per cent would be in full-time employment earning an average of $123 per day.
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