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The China figures represent the highest Saturday or Sunday
movie opening in the country in industry history, the Disney
film studio said in a statement.
Internationally, "The Force Awakens," the seventh installment in
the science fiction franchise created by George Lucas, brought
its worldwide haul to $1.73 billion, Disney said. It has now
shot past "Jurassic World's" $1.67 billion global gross to
become the third biggest movie ever.
China will help decide if "Force Awakens" tops "Avatar" as the
highest-grossing film in Hollywood history. "Avatar" took in
$2.8 billion after its December 2009 debut.
The "Star Wars" film saga that began in 1977 had not been a
cultural phenomenon in China like it was in other countries. The
original movies weren't shown in Chinese theaters until last
June. Disney launched a marketing blitz to build buzz, featuring
500 Stormtroopers on the Great Wall and promotions with a pop
star dubbed China's answer to Justin Bieber.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Ros Russell)
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