As part of our box office breakdown, which was published early Sunday afternoon, we indicated that Star Wars: The Force Awakens had posted a weekend domestic tally of $238 million. It appears those estimates were lower than expected as now the domestic total is near $248 million.
With official numbers now in, Star Wars has posted actuals that now confirm it to be the biggest global debut in history with $529 million. Universal’s Jurassic World had been the previous record holder with $524.9 million with its release this past June. The performance of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with milestone records of $248M domestic and $281M international, has bolstered Walt Disney Studios to its highest earnings year on record as it crosses $5 billion for the very first time.
It should be worth noting that the film has yet to open in China, a country which accounted for nearly $100 million of Jurassic World‘s global opening.
Walt Disney’s banner year has also included the hit films Cinderella ($542M worldwide), The Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.4 billion), Inside Out ($851.6M), Ant-Man ($518.6M), and Bridge of Spies ($130M).