'The Force Awakens' on Monday to a trail of shattered box office records

 By 
Adam Rosenberg
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Biggest domestic debut. Biggest global debut. Biggest Thursday preview. First-ever film to outgross $100 million in the space of a day.

If there's a record related to opening day or opening weekend box office, Star Wars: The Force Awakens crushed it. The film collected an astonishing $248 million in domestic ticket sales, which in turn contributed to its $529 million global weekend debut.

The domestic take is all the more impressive for happening in December, where the previous record-holder -- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey -- stood at $85 million.

Blockbuster releases aren't uncommon in the closing months of the year, but a combination of inclement weather, holidays and kids in school tend to keep box office totals well behind those of the summer months. Unless you're Star Wars, apparently.

The previous all-time box office opening weekend record was broken earlier in 2015 when Jurassic World walked away with $209 million in domestic ticket sales and $525 million globally. Jurassic producer Frank Marshall gave Disney/Lucasfilm their propers with a cheeky tweet.

Cheers to J.J., Kathy, the cast and crew, and DIS/LFL marketing teams! #TheForceAwakens @Disney @StarWars @Bad_Robot pic.twitter.com/oa0zwuAb2Q

— Frank Marshall (@LeDoctor) December 21, 2015

Among The Force Awakens' other record-breaking achievements are: best IMAX opening ($48 million), best Friday gross ($121 million), highest per-theater average for a wide release ($59,982 per screen) and -- hilariously -- best Star Wars opening, decimating Revenge of the Sith's $108 million take.

Peace out, prequels.

One major box office record remains for The Force Awakens to surpass: the all-time box office total. Avatar -- notably, also a December movie -- has been king since its 2009 release, with $760 million in domestic ticket sales and $2.8 billion globally.

Avatar's lifetime box office run covers a nine-month period, from Dec. 2009 through Aug. 2010. There's no predicting the pace of the Star Wars box office at this point, just a few days after its release, but Avatar's $77 million week one domestic take doesn't come close.

Here's one more fun stat to leave you with: The $529 million global box office earned back more than 10% of the $4 billion Disney paid to acquire Lucasfilm in 2012. In the space of a single weekend.

Disney's got a good feeling about this one.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Additional reporting by Proma Khosla.

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