"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" dominates North American box office

The Force of "Star Wars" dominated box office again as Disney's release of Lucasfilm's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" opened with an incredible estimated 220 million U.S. dollars in North America, the biggest opening in 2017 by far and the second biggest debut of all time.

The opening of the eighth installment in the "Star Wars" saga is second only to its predecessor, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which opened with a whopping 248 million dollars in December 2015.

The film also posted the second biggest preview gross of 45 million dollars on Thursday night and the second biggest single day gross on Friday with 104.8 million dollars. It also brought in 64 million dollars on Saturday, the fourth-highest of all-time on Saturday in North American theaters, according to the studio figures collected by comScore.

With international grosses hitting 230 million dollars, the film has brought in an estimated 450 million dollars worldwide in total.

Directed by Rian Johnson, the epic space opera follows Rey as she receives Jedi training from Luke Skywalker in hopes of turning the tide for the Resistance in the continued fight against Kylo Ren and the First Order.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" has received largely positive reviews. The film is a knockout with audiences giving it a full 5 out of 5 stars on comScore's PostTrak audience survey, a whopping 80 percent "definite recommend" and 33 percent say they would see it again in a theater. The audiences also gave the film a strong "A" on CinemaScore and 93 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

"The 'Star Wars' franchise is among the longest running and most beloved of all-time and 'The Last Jedi' is the latest example to not only generate huge global box office, but to also feel the love from critics and audiences alike. This is truly a phenomenon that will continue for years to come and with 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' set for May of 2018 and 'Episode IX' two years from now," said senior movie analyst Paul Dergarabedian at comScore.

"Disney has mapped out a perfect strategy to keep the box office force alive for moviegoers well into the future," he told Xinhua.

20th Fox's animated comedy film "Ferdinand" opened in second place with an estimated 13.32 million dollars. Directed by Carlos Saldanha, the film is based on Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson's children's book "The Story of Ferdinand" and features the voices of John Cena, Kate McKinnon, David Tennant and Anthony Anderson among others.

"Ferdinand" tells the story of a giant bull named Ferdinand with a big heart who after being mistaken for a dangerous beast, he is captured and torn from his home. Determined to return to his family, he rallies a misfit team on the ultimate adventure.

In third place, Disney's release of Pixar's animated "Coco" took in an estimated 10.02 million dollars in its fourth weekend, pushing its North American cume to 150.8 million dollars and global cume to 448.2 million dollars to date.

Lionsgate's heartwarming and brilliant family drama "Wonder" landed in fourth place with an estimated 5.4 million dollars in its fifth weekend. The film is based on the New York Times bestseller and stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, Sonia Braga, Mandy Patinkin, Noah Jupe, Daveed Diggs and Elle McKinnon.

Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment's superhero film "Justice League" finished fifth with an estimated 4.17 million dollars in its fifth weekend.

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