‘Star Wars’ opening weekend obliterates North American box-office record, hauling in US$238m

To say that the force is strong with this one is an understatement.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens brought in a galactic US$238 million over the weekend, making it the biggest North American debut of all time according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The Walt Disney film’s earnings destroy the previous opening record set by Universal's Jurassic World, which drew US$208.8 million this summer.

Internationally, the film brought in US$279 million, bringing its global gross to US$517 million — second only to Jurassic World's global US$525 million. But the dinosaurs had the added benefit of China — Star Wars won’t open there until January 9.

This is just the latest in a laundry list of records set by J.J. Abrams’ film, the seventh in the franchise, which had analysts anticipating a debut anywhere from US$150 million to US$300 million.

The X-factor was quality. While The Force Awakens drew enormous pre-sales, the film was kept under lockdown from the press and critics until mere days before it was released to the public. Reviews turned out to be stellar - 95 per cent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes - as did early audience reaction, who gave the film an “A” CinemaScore.

Rentrak’s Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian said that’s the key element that may push the film to the US$2 billion mark by the end of its run. Many are already going back for a second helping.