Star Wars: The Force Awakens global box office collection crosses $1bn in record time

Star Wars: The Force Awakens crossed the $1bn mark (£670m) in a record-breaking time of 12 days. The J.J. Abrams directed space action thriller is ruling the box office, breaking several records in the process.

The seventh instalment of the Star Wars series reached the $1.09bn mark after only two weekends, EW reported. The record was previously held by Jurassic World.

The achievement is being touted as a great milestone for The Force Awakens, which is yet to premiere in China, considered the world's second-largest movie market. TFA will premiere in China on 9 January. In one of the many industry records set by the film, Star Wars 7 earned $545m in the US.

"The speed with which records are falling is a testament to the audience broadening out. And you're seeing extraordinary repeat business," Disney's distribution chief Dave Hollis told Hollywood Reporter. "We know anecdotally there are people who are seeing the movie three and four times. Everybody wants to be part of something that has become a cultural phenomenon."

With the ongoing holiday season, the space odyssey is expected to break more records and is threatening Avatar's throne as the highest grossing movie in history.

Other Christmas releases of the year — Daddy's Home, Joy, Concussion, The Big Short and Point Brea — have failed to race with TFA. Comedy drama Daddy's Home, with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell in the lead, earned $38.8m in the opening weekend. Touted as an Academy and Golden Globe worthy movie, Jennifer Lawrence's Joy is doing fairing good at the ticket counter.