New ‘Star Wars’ film shatters North American box office record

The next record to beat will be Avatar’s $2.78 billion global gross, the Journal notes.

Move over, Avatar: there’s a new Force in town.

Disney said the seventh film in the “Star Wars” saga had grossed $758.2 million through Tuesday, when it took in $8 million, and surpassed on Wednesday the $760.5 million earned by James Cameron’s Oscar-winning futuristic sci-fi epic “Avatar”.

Star Wars has been breaking records left and right since its release, starting with its opening weekend when it made a staggering $248million at the box office.

If “The Force Awakens” takes off in China, it could have a shot at taking the title of highest-grossing worldwide film ever, a title also held by “Avatar”. It is also now ahead of Titanic for a second place on the all-time list, and almost $20 million behind Avatar.

Because of the latest Star Wars film, domestic revenue for 2015 hit a record of $11 billion at the last minute. Indeed, the biggest global market that helped Avatar and similar blockbusters like Transformers: Age of Extinction so well in the past does not since an awakening in the Force until the film first bows in China this Saturday, Jan. 9.

“We are proud of these records, but know that they would not be possible without fans’ enthusiasm and continued support”, Disney said in a statement.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now earning a very impressive $800 million in worldwide box-office. It accomplished the feat in just 12 days.

Meanwhile when adjusted for gross inflation the top domestic films of all time remains Gone With the Wind and the original Star Wars according to Box Office Mojo.