New 'Star Wars' Film Sets Box Office Record

FILE - Over 100 JAKKS BIG-FIGS Stormtrooper action figures are seen as a part of an installation at The Americana at Brand for the opening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in Glendale, Calif., Dec. 17.

The newest film in the Stars Wars franchise has set a box office record for an opening weekend in the United States and Canada.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens generated $238 million in ticket sales since its release Thursday.

Worldwide sales brought in $517 million.

The figures shatter previous records set by Jurassic World, the fourth film in the Jurassic Park saga, which opened to $208 million in North American sales earlier this year.

The Force Awakens, an intergalactic story of good versus evil, is the seventh installment in the epic science-fiction franchise created by George Lucas in 1977.

Disney bought producer Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012.