Star Wars: The Force Awakens has soared to the $2 billion mark in global ticket sales, Disney announced on Sunday, as the movie landed in fourth place at the North American box office, behind Kung Fu Panda 3 in the top spot.
The latest Star Wars franchise became only the third film ever to reach the $2 billion mark, and is only the second to do so in a first release, Disney said in a statement.
It also set a domestic record with $900 million in ticket sales on Wednesday, making it “the only film in history to reach this milestone,” Disney reported.
Weekend estimates showed that it would rake in $6.9 million Friday through Sunday for a grand total of $906 million since its debut last year.
DreamWorks’ computer-animated Kung Fu Panda comedy — the third instalment in the franchise — meanwhile earned $21 million in its second weekend out, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations predicted.
Following the adventures of Po as he evolves from martial arts student to teacher, the US-Chinese production features the voices of stars Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie.
The celebrity-studded Coen Brothers’ Hail, Caesar! a 1950s kidnap caper about a Hollywood fixer trying to keep a studio’s stars under thumb, debuted in second place with $11.4 million.
The picture casts George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Josh Brolin and Jonah Hill side-by-side, among a slew of other well-known faces.
In third place was critically acclaimed The Revenant, a grisly tale of backcountry survival and revenge starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The film, which has been showered with Oscar nominations, earned an estimated $7.1 million.
Coming in fifth behind Star Wars was The Choice, a romantic-drama based on the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name. The film, typical of the Sparks genre (he is also the author behind The Notebook, A Walk to Remember and Message in a Bottle) raked in some $6.1 million.
Rounding out the estimates for the rest of the top ten were:
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, $5.2 million
The Finest Hours, $4.7 million
Ride Along 2, $4.100 million
The Boy, just under $4.098 million
Dirty Grandpa, $4.05 million
