'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Broke Opening Weekend Record, Bringing in $238 Million

Surprising pretty much no one, Star Wars: The Force Awakens had a stellar opening weekend, and smashed previous box office records to become the biggest North American debut in history.

The seventh film in the Star Wars franchise raked in $238 million in the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend, the Los Angeles Times reported. Star Wars: The Force Awakens now holds the record for biggest debut, snatching the crown away from the previous record-holder, Jurassic World, which opened to the tune of $208.8 million in June. 

Earlier box-office predictions estimated that Star Wars: The Force Awakens would earn between $175 to $250 million in its North America opening weekend. The movie took in $57 million on Thursday night alone, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens easily took the record for biggest December opening, ousting previous record-holder The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which grossed $85 million in its 2012 opening weekend.

Experts are even predicting that Star Wars: The Force Awakens could potentially surpass James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time: Avatar grossed about $2.8 billion worldwide.