Wonder Woman breaks US box office record for female director with $100m opening

Superhero blockbuster Wonder Woman has broken the US box office record for a film directed by a woman, raking in a staggering $223m (£173m) worldwide on its opening weekend.

The film made more than $100.5m at box offices across the US and added $122.5m after opening in 55 countries worldwide.

Patty Jenkins now holds the title as the female director with the best domestic box office opening, topping Sam Taylor Johnson's previous world record of $85m for Fifty Shades of Grey.

Before Wonder Woman, Jenkins was primarily known for her feature film Monster which won an Academy Award for Charlize Theron's portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003.

Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who plays Wonder Woman, has received rave reviews for her performance as the superhero. Gadot, who has also starred in the Fast and Furious series, made her debut as Diana Prince in the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Her co-star Chris Pine has praised Gadot's ability to portray the different sides of Prince's character.

"She's got to play this very bright-eyed bushy-tailed superhero who has never seen a man before," he told Empire magazine. "Nor has she seen war, or death, or anything bad. To be able to play that kind of innocence without making her stupidly naive and laughable is very, very difficult, and Gal handled it with incredible grace."