HOLLYWOOD — (CNN) The box office has awakened.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” took in a record breaking $57 million at the U.S. box office for its preview showings on Thursday night.
That number blasted the record for the biggest pre-opening in box office history held by “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” which made $43.5 million on its opening night in 2011.
To be fair, “Deathly Hallows: Part 2” began its preview showings at Midnight while “Force Awakens” kicked off its U.S. debut at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday night.
So far, the Disney film has pulled in roughly $130 million worldwide since opening overseas on Wednesday.
The movie had opened in 44 overseas markets before its U.S. debut, breaking records in numerous countries including the U.K., Ireland, and Germany.
The Death Star-sized Thursday night in the U.S. should also help to boost the film’s outlook for a record breaking opening weekend as well.
The record for biggest box office opening weekend ever belongs to Universal’s “Jurassic World” which premiered to $208.8 million just six months ago.
3-D screening accounted for 47% of the night’s grosses on Thursday.
The sci-fi adventure film starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Harrison Ford has been a intergalactic hit with both fans and critics.
The film currently holds a near perfect 95% score on review site, RottenTomatoes.com, and has many fans calling it the best film in the series since 1983’s “Return of the Jedi.”
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