Star Wars: The Force Awakens has smashed the record for the
biggest box office debut weekend globally with tickets sales of $529m (£355m).
The previous record, $525m, was set by Jurassic World in
June.
The seventh instalment of the nearly 40-year-old space saga
also opened with a record-breaking $248m in the US and Canada.
Star Wars has also had the biggest opening day and Saturday
receipts in UK and Ireland box office history.
With its Sunday takings projected to be £7.5m, it is
expected to achieve the largest four-day weekend total in British and Irish
cinemas.
JJ Abrams' film grossed £9.6m on Thursday, including £2.4m
from midnight screenings.
That exceeded the previous best of £9.48m set by Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in 2011.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens went on to make £8.6m on
Saturday in the UK and Ireland.
These figures meant it had already overtaken the lifetime
totals of several big films, including the first Hunger Games release and The
Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Jurassic World currently holds the record for the largest
four-day weekend in the UK and Ireland.
The new Star Wars film also set a new opening night record
in the US and Canada.
The Force Awakens made $57m on Thursday night, beating the
previous record of $43.5m held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Analysts say the space saga could become the biggest-selling
movie of all time.
This is despite the fact that Jurassic World's had the
advantage of opening in China on the same weekend it opened everywhere else.
The Force Awakens, in contrast, will not debut in the
world's second biggest cinema-going territory until 9 January.
The latest film returns to "a galaxy far, far
away" some 30 years on from the action of 1983's Return of the Jedi.
It sees original trilogy stars Harrison Ford and Carrie
Fisher reprise their Han Solo and Princess Leia roles alongside younger
franchise newcomers.
"Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers
that one-of-a-kind Star Wars experience, and director JJ Abrams, Lucasfilm
President Kathleen Kennedy and the Lucasfilm team have outdone
themselves," Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said in a statement.
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