Star Wars to be a box office force again

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens is tipped to be the third highest grossing film of all time.

American wealth management company, Morgan Stanley, has crunched the figures on the Disney instalment of the sci-fi franchise which opens on December 17.

Morgan Stanley's Benjamin Swinburne estimates it will rake in US$1.95 billion (NZ$2.82 billion) in ticket sales globally when it opens.

If correct, Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens will finish just behind Avatar and Titanic in world record box office sales.

Swinburne, according to Deadline.com, estimates US consumers will spend $US650 million at the box office while another $US1.3 billion will roll in from overseas moviegoers.

A scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens the highly anticipated film by J.J. Abrams.

Swinburne's estimate of overseas sales, doubling US sales, is higher than what the last three Star War films grossed internationally.

After throwing in all revenues and costs, Swinburne expects the latest Star Wars film to be wildly profitable for Disney.

According to Box Office Mojo, Avatar grossed $US2.788 billion in world wide tickets sales to be the No.1 selling movie of all time.

Titanic was second with $US2.186 billion and Furious 7 is third with US$1.5 billion - recently bumping out The Avengers which was in third place.

- AAP