Star Wars: The Force Awakens crosses $1b sales

The seventh "Star Wars" film has crossed the $1-billion mark in worldwide gross, faster than any movie in history.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens surged past US$1 billion (NZ$ 1.5 billion) in worldwide sales in 12 days, becoming the first picture to reach that mark so quickly.

The Walt Disney film, featuring a new cast of young actors with returning stars Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, took in US$153.5 million at US and Canadian theaters in its second weekend, Rentrak Corp said in a statement. The movie held off four new releases to keep the top spot at the box office.

The soaring receipts have surprised even Disney executives and underscore the opportunities from the company's 2012 purchase of Star Wars owner Lucasfilm. Every division of the company is getting in on the action, from film and consumer products to theme parks and TV.

"We are rewriting the record books every day," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst at Rentrak. "Repeat viewings are having a snowball effect."

He called the speed at which the movie crossed the US$1 billion mark "staggering," considering it won't open in China until next month.

Prior to The Force Awakens, the fastest a movie reached US$1 billion was the 13 days it took Universal Pictures' Jurassic World to hit that mark in June.

The new Star Wars picture had already topped Jurassic World for largest-ever opening weekend.

The film made its official debut in US theatres on December 18 and in New Zealand on December 17.

Christmas Record

The movie also set a record for Christmas Day sales, generating US$49.3 million, Rentrak said.

"It's bigger than big," said Bob Iger, Disney's chairman and chief executive officer.

It's bigger than we thought it would be.

The Forces Awakens is set 30 years after the defeat of the evil Galactic Empire in 1983's Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

With the New Order looking to cement its control, it falls to Finn, a renegade Stormtrooper played by John Boyega, and Rey, a staff-wielding scavenger portrayed by Daisy Ridley, to save the Resistance. They embark on a quest to find the lost Jedi knight Luke Skywalker, portrayed once again by Mark Hamill.

The return of stars such as Ford and Fisher from the original Star Wars films along with younger actors in prominent roles has been cited by critics as a reason for the new film's appeal across a range of moviegoers.

- Bloomberg