“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” smashes box office records

On Saturday alone, the film took £8.6m, the biggest business done on a Saturday for a movie ever in the UK.

One of them, longtime movie analyst Paul Dergarabedian, called the staggering box office numbers “mind-blowing”.

No big surprise: after strong reviews from critics and fawning praise from many fans, Star Wars: The Force Awakens had a record opening weekend at the box office. Worldwide, The Force Awakens is still second to Jurassic World’s $524.9 million, but the dinosaur action flick had the advantage of opening day-and-date in China.

The Walt Disney Co. earnings destroy the previous opening record set by “Jurassic World”, which drew $208.8 million this summer.

Disney’s $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm nearly looks like a bargain now.

Filmgoers reveled in the return to the “Star Wars” galaxy, dressing as Jedi or Sith, carrying lightsabers and cheering when classic characters such as Princess Leia or Chewbacca appeared on screen.

Internationally, “The Force Awakens” is the third biggest worldwide opening of all time with $279 million, behind “Jurassic World” ($316 million) and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II” ($314 million).

When Disney acquired Lucas Films in 2012, fans were a little skeptical. As Variety notes, the film has already earned more than its reported $200 million production budget, and with school vacations set to start this week, next week’s box office should continue to rake in the tickets.

The latest film, which some analysts expect to gross more than $2 billion, stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac. Star Wars has smashed that to bits, with a take of $238m in just one weekend. Lauding the nostalgic throwbacks to the original series, audiences gave the new release an A grade, according to polling firm CinemaScore.

Disney made an effort to build buzz, placing 500 miniature Stormtroopers at the Great Wall and striking a deal to stream the six earlier “Star Wars” films through video service Tencent.

Thanks to the massive debut of “The Force Awakens” the overall box office for all movies this weekend also broke a record, bringing in over $300 million for the first time in history.