Stellar £337 million worldwide opening for Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Star Wars: The Last Jedi has scored a massive $450 million – around £337 million – at the box office over its opening weekend.

In the UK alone, it coined in £27.5 million, after opening at a record-breaking 700 sites, the widest UK cinema release of all time.

The US box office scooped $220 millon – £165 million – making it the second biggest opening ever, just behind its predecessor, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Other top earners included Germany, with $23.6 million, and France, with $18.1 million.

Director Rian Johnson’s movie does fall behind the figure made by J.J. Abrams’ first comeback movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which debuted in the US to $247.9 million in 2015, and a rather larger $529 million worldwide.

That makes The Last Jedi the fifth highest worldwide opening of all time, behind The Fate of the Furious ($541.9 million), The Force Awakens ($529 million), Jurassic World ($525.5 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($483. 2 million).

However, it’s worth noting that both The Fate of the Furious and Jurassic World also opened in China on their opening weekends, something The Last Jedi is yet to do, meaning there will be a considerable bump in revenue in the post when it debuts on January 5.

China spent a massive $124 million going to see The Force Awakens, with its final total worldwide coming to $2.06 billion in all.

Still, it will be deemed a roaring success for Disney, and not least for the cash it’s begun hauling in.

It’s also been heralded by critics, the vast majority (93%, according to reviews aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes) turning in positive notices.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out now across the UK.

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