It’s official Disney Star Wars has achieved a historic milestone:  The Force Awakens has overtaken  ‘Avatar’ as  the highest grossing domestic film of all time!

20th Century Fox’s Avatar at $760.6M, a box office tally that took  318 days to accomplish, reigned for six years but was dethroned by The Force Awakens in a just 20 days!

Many box office observers suggest the Star Wars reboot, already the most successful film of all time for Disney, will ultimately gross $2.2 billion-$2.4 billion worldwide, passing up Cameron’s Titanic ($2.19 billion) to become the No. 2 film of all time. Already, it’s the No. 4 title.

Here are the current box office numbers:

Domestic: $750,230,824 48.4%
+ Foreign: $799,100,000 51.6%
= Worldwide: $1,549,330,824

With the largest second weekend of all-time, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has now grossed more than $544 million domestically and another $546 million internationally, totaling over $1 billion ($1.09B)  in worldwide ticket sales and became the fastest movie ever to hit $1 billion at the global box office.

In just twelve days Star Wars: The Force Awakens has vaporized just about every box office record on the books.

This weekend alone, The Force Awakens secured the biggest Christmas Day of all time, raking in $49.3 million and more than doubling Sherlock Holmes’ 2009 record of $24.6 million. It also surpassed The Dark Knight to become the fifth biggest domestic movie of all time. Even more impressively, The Force Awakens crossed $500 million domestically in only 10 days, shattering Jurassic World’s 17-day record. Thanks to Star Wars’ success, this is officially the biggest Christmas weekend in box office history and the film is showing no signs of slowing down!

Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co. summed up best this weekend’s opening of Disney’s Star Wars: The Force Awaken: “I don’t think ever in the history of movies has their been more hype leading up to release of a film. This is a huge, huge win.”

Star Wars: The Force Awakens stormed the box office this weekend  and many records tumbled along the way. The film walked away with an estimated $248 million in its first three days domestically (including $57 million in Thursday night “previews”) along with another $279 million internationally for a massive $529 million worldwide opening.

The film, with a $200 million budget and millions more spent on marketing, represented a big gamble for the Walt Disney Company, which had already plunked down $4 billion for rights to the Skywalker clan. It’s a bet that appears to have paid off, establishing new benchmarks for the movie industry and setting the franchise up for future spinoffs, prequels and installments.

Here are some of the records that Star Wars: The Force Awakens now owns:

Largest Thursday Previews: $57 million
Previous Record: $43.5 million (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)
Largest Friday, Opening Day, Single Day: $120.5 million (estimated)
Previous Record: $91 million (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)
Domestic Opening Weekend: $248 million (estimate)
Previous Record: $208.8 million (Jurassic World)
Highest Per Theater Average (Wide Opening): $57,571 (estimate)
Previous Record: $48,855 / 4,274 theaters (Jurassic World)
Top Opening Weekend for PG-13 Rated Film: $248 million (estimate)
Previous Record: $208.8 million (Jurassic World)
Top Holiday Opening Weekend: $238 million (estimate)
Previous Record: $158 million (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)
Biggest Weekend Overall (Top 12 Gross): $294.5 million
Previous Record: $266 million (June 12-14, 2015)
Biggest December Weekend (Top 12 Gross): $294.5 million
Previous Record: $259.9 million (Dec 25-27, 2009)
December Single Day: $120.5 million (estimated)
Previous Record: $37.13 million (The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey)
Widest December Opening: 4,134 theaters
Previous Record: 4,045 theaters (The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey)
December Opening Weekend: $248 million (estimate)
Previous Record: $84.62 million (The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey)
Fastest to $100 Million: 1 Day
Previous Record: 2 Days (Jurassic World)
Global IMAX Opening Record: $48 million
Previous Record: $44.1 million (Jurassic World)
Domestic IMAX Opening Record: $30.1 million
Previous Record: $20.9 million (Jurassic World)
Best opening for a “Star Wars” film
(Previous record: “Revenge of the Sith” with $108.4 million)
Biggest opening weekend of all time in U.K., Russia, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Denmark, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Serbia and New Zealand

Cinema attendance in the US and Canada, the world’s largest film market, has barely changed in a decade as online and mobile platforms exploded. “We have so many options for entertainment, yet look at where everyone is flocking this weekend – to the multiplex,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at box office tracking firm Rentrak. “Disney has this down to a science.”

Disney plans four Star Wars movies up to 2019, plus major expansions at its US theme parks to incorporate the droids, spaceships and otherworldly creatures of the universe Lucas invented. Toys, clothing, home accessories and video games already pervade stores ahead of Christmas.

Reuters analysis last week calculated that Disney might be on track to triple its Lucasfilm investment ($4 billion) and earn an average of $669m from the franchise in each of the next six years.

The film’s financial and critical success mark a victory for Disney’s chief executive Bob Iger’s strategy of acquiring proven brands, including Pixar Animation and comic book powerhouse Marvel, to fuel Disney’s entertainment empire.

There has been an awakening. Have you felt it? That’s the lifting of the embargo on the ultra top-secret Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as the movie finally screened before audiences prior to its release on December 18th. After years of anticipation and judging by the initial reviews, The Force Awakens appears to have brought balance and the magic back to the Star Wars franchise.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the movie it was promised to be, with great new characters, a respect for the original trilogy and a strong understanding of what makes this franchise click with fans.” ~IGN

“The Force Awakens actually feels like Star Wars again, more so than any film since 1983.the force awakens understands how audiences originally connected with Lucas Films” ~The Verge

“J. J. Abrams’ hugely anticipated blockbuster brings welcome jolts of energy, warmth and excitement back to the biggest franchise in movie history.” ~Variety

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens is actually probably objectively the best Star Wars yet, and would be held up as untouchable had it come first.” ~The Independent

“This is a triumphant reboot of the biggest film franchise of our lifetimes and fully earns its place as the soon-to-be biggest film of all time.The Force is, indeed, strong in this film.” ~The Star

“The Force Awakens pumps new energy and life into a hallowed franchise in a way that both resurrects old pleasures and points in promising new directions.” ~The Hollywood Reporter

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens Is a Satisfying, Stirring Return to a Galaxy Far, Far Away. J.J. Abrams’s beyond-anticipated movie recaptures the old Star Wars magic, and leaves us wanting more.” ~Vanity Fair

“If you loved Star Wars once, everything you loved is back. And if you’re new? Welcome home.” ~The Wired

“Packed with action and populated by both familiar faces and fresh blood, The Force Awakens successfully recalls the series’ former glory while injecting it with renewed energy.” ~rottentomatoes.com

“…a spectacular homecoming. JJ Abrams banishes memories of George Lucas’s prequels with this outrageously exciting and romantic return to a world you hadn’t realised you’d missed so much” ~The Guardian

“fun, polished space odyssey that embraces the appeal of the originals.” ~IndieWire

“J.J. Abrams’ rousing, pitch-perfect triumph—a feast of nostalgic blockbustering.” ~Time Out

“is precisely the Star Wars movie that you want it to be.” Will Leitch of the New Republic