Star Wars overtakes Jurassic World for third in global sales

Washington:  "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has surged to third place in all-time global box office receipts, overtaking "Jurassic World" after a blockbuster debut in China that pushed its total to USD 1.73 billion, Disney said Sunday.

The company said the seventh installment of the "Star Wars" saga made an estimated USD 145.9 million over the weekend, including USD 53 million in China.

"China led the way as the final international market to open with an estimated two-day weekend (total) of USD 53M, making it the highest Sat/Sun opening of all-time there as well as the biggest industry opening Saturday of all-time," a statement from Disney said.

Disney said the China numbers put the film's global total over USD 1.73 billion, behind only "Avatar" (USD 2.79 billion) and "Titanic" (USD 2.19 billion), both by filmmaker James Cameron. "Jurassic World" had previously been number three, with USD 1.67 billion in total box office receipts.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" also became the all-time highest grossing film in the North American market this week, with cumulative sales topping USD 800 million for the first time ever, Disney said.