'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' shatters box office record with $238 million
It goes without saying that the seventh episode in the "Star Wars" saga topped the weekend box office, but the question is was it enough to surpass "Jurassic World" as the biggest opening weekend of all time?
The answer is yes. "Force Awakens" surpassed the record set by "World" over the summer of $208.4 million with an astounding estimated $238 million in North America, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Industry insiders believe the number could be closer to $240 million, final weekend totals come out on Monday.
Previous to this the film had already broke the Thursday preview record with $57 million, and the biggest single-day box office record on Friday with $120 million.
To put the huge weekend by "Awakens" in perspective, it made more than the opening weekends of "The Hobbit" trilogy (the big December release of the last three years) combined.
Needless to say, the $4 billion purchase by Disney of Lucasfilm is looking to be money well spent.
Meanwhile the battle for second place came down to the other new releases, and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip" took the spot with $14.4 million, while "Sister" came in third with $13.4 million.
Internationally, "The Force Awakens" made $279 million, that's the third highest opening of all time behind "Jurassic World" ($316 million) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2" ($314 million).