The latest installation of the epic space saga opened with an estimated 200 million yuan (approx. 30 million US dollars) in ticket sales in China on Saturday.
The Walt Disney Company said it was its biggest opening day ever in China. Disney purchased Lucasfilm from "Star Wars" creator George Lucas for 4 billion US dollars in 2012 and announced three more installments of the movie.
The seventh installment of the "Star Wars" series, "The Force Awakens" has been toppling records since its release in December.
Disney said it has surpassed Oscar-winning "Avatar" to become the top-grossing film in North American history, adding that it only took 20 days to break the 760.5 million US dollars record set by "Avatar" in seven months in 2009.
But globally, the top spot is still maintained by James Cameroon's "Avatar" with the movie racking 2.79 billion US dollars, according to Box Office Mojo—a website that tracks box-office revenues. As of Sunday morning, "The Force Awakens" has grossed over 1.6 billion US dollars worldwide.
Experts say the Disney movie's global aspirations will crucially depend on its performance in China—the world's second largest film market.
China's movie-theater sales exceeded 40 billion yuan (6.2 billion US dollars) in 2015, a year-on-year increase of over 48%. With more than 15 screens opening each day, China is forecasted to overtake the US as the world's biggest movie market in 2017.
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