Star Wars: The Force Breaks it’s way to the top!

As if there were any doubts, with record pre-sales of more than $100 million, Star Wars: The Force Awakens breaks opening weekend records (set previously by Universal’s Jurassic World) with a staggering $238 Million at the domestic box office.

Courtesy of Disney/Lucasfilm

The long awaited, nostaligia rich space opera headed by Director J.J. Abrams also opened big internationally. With a 5-day total of $279 million combined with the domestic box office, The Force Awaken hauled in $517 million world-wide. Which comes in second, behind last Summer’s Jurassic World’s $525 million.

The 7th film in the series was lauded by critics and fans alike, with very strong reviews and an A cinema score. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 95% certified fresh rating, with the critics consenses stating, “Packed with action and populated by both familiar faces and fresh blood, The Force Awakens successfully recalls the series’ former glory while injecting it with renewed energy.”

Courtesy of Disney/Lucasfilm

Sentiments from Alan Horn, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios were shared as he stated, “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.”

Courtesy of Disney/Lucasfilm

This cultural phenomenon took the world by storm and shattered more than just shattered domestic records. Here are some others in the record books:

• Biggest Thursday preview gross with $57M.

• Biggest Friday and biggest single-day gross with $120.5M.

• First film ever to post a single day over $100M.Fastest film to $100M and $200M.

• Biggest December debut (nearly 3 times previous record of $84.6M).

• Biggest IMAX Thursday night preview ($5.7M), single-day ($14M, Friday), and weekend ($30.1M).

• Highest theater average for a wide release ($57,568).

• Biggest opening weekend of all time in United Kingdom (4-day), Australia, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Poland (3-day), Denmark (5-day), Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Serbia, New Zealand.

• Second biggest opening weekend in France, Belgium, Israel, Chile.

• Biggest IMAX global debut with $48 million.

These numbers exclude Greece, India, and China which open Dec. 24, 2015 &  Jan 9, 2016, respectively.

Sources: Rotten Tomatoes; Variety; Comicbook.com