'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Blows Up Box Office, Makes $238M in U.S.
The latest film in the franchise made $238 million in U.S. and $517 globally.
— -- "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" continued to shatter box office records throughout its debut weekend.
The Walt Disney Co., which also owns production company Lucasfilm and ABC News, announced Sunday that the film obliterated the all-time domestic debut record by raking in an estimated $238 million in ticket sales. Worldwide, the film has made $517 million.
"Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers that one-of-a-kind 'Star Wars' experience, and director J.J. Abrams, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, and the Lucasfilm team have outdone themselves," Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, said in a statement. "To all of the fans around the world who not only came out in Force to make this such an exciting and astronomical debut but who treated this film as their own and helped preserve the experience for their fellow fans by not spoiling it -- thank you, we do."
Still, that's not the only record "The Force Awakens" has smashed. The film beat out the 2011 film "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" in holding the record for Thursday night preview sales with $57 million.
It also had the biggest single-day in sales for any movie, along with the biggest Friday a film has ever had with $120.5 million. It was also the first film to ever make more than $100 million on any given day. Not to mention, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was the fastest film to reach $100 million and later $200 million in sales.
Other records "The Force Awakens" created were the film with the biggest December debut, the biggest IMAX Thursday night, the biggest IMAX single-day and the biggest IMAX weekend.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was released on more screens than any other film this month, playing in more than 4,000 theaters nationwide, according to Disney.