The Force Awakens has beaten Avatar’s U.S. record – or has it?

That means “The Force Awakens” is all but guaranteed to cross the previous domestic record of $760.5 million held by the 2009 James Cameron blockbuster “Avatar” by the end of the day. The movie broke the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend after its December 18 USA release.

All said, “Force Awakens” may not be the inflation-adjusted champion, but not even a month into its box office run, “Episode VII” certainly has momentum in its corner.

In gross terms only two films have earned $700 million or more in North America: Avatar and Force Awakens.

MORE: See the original “Star Wars” trilogy’s cast, then and now!

The film also achieved a record-setting second-weekend take – with an estimated $150 million (£100 million). But if it continues to keep momentum and other new releases underperform, it could go much higher and $1 billion domestic would be hard, but is not totally out of its reach.

“Star War: The Force Awakens” has taken the title of the highest grossing movies of all time in North America.

Directed by JJ Abrams and starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac and Gwendoline Christie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is out in cinemas now. “The Force Awakens” has earned $1.6 billion to date, as compared to “Avatar’s” $2.8 billion. Expect these numbers to jump dramatically when the film opens in China on January 9.

Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University in NY, said the hype and marketing surrounding the latest “Star War” had helped ensure its success but so was the fact that it is a good movie.

Disney acquired the rights to the Star Wars franchise, as part of the purchase of Lucasfilm for over $4 billion back in 2012.