UPDATE 2-'Star Wars' movie's global sales reach massive $250 mln

(Updates box office sales)
By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES, Dec 19 (Reuters) - "Star Wars: The Force
Awakens" collected a galactic $250 million of global ticket
sales through Friday and headed toward a historic opening
weekend in the United States and Canada as fans around the world
reveled in the return of the beloved space saga.
The seventh "Star Wars" movie is expected to sell more than
$220 million of tickets at U.S. and Canadian theaters through
Sunday, beating the record $208.8 million for "Jurassic World"
in June, Walt Disney Co DIS.N said on Saturday.
Fans embraced the new installment in the series: A clash
between good and evil in a galaxy far, far away. Thousands
gathered for a friendly light saber battle in downtown Los
Angeles on Friday, and moviegoers in cities such as Berlin and
Paris arrived at screenings wearing Stormtrooper costumes, Jedi
robes and Darth Vader masks.
"Force Awakens" has already smashed several film industry
records and won praise from critics and moviegoers. It pulled in
$120.5 million through Friday, its first full day in domestic
theaters, the highest single-day ticket sales ever.
That includes a chart-topping $57 million from fans who
flocked to see the first showings on Thursday night. Saturday
domestic receipts were expected to total $60 million, Disney
said.
"Force Awakens" began rolling out in global markets on
Wednesday. Through Friday, international ticket sales had
reached $129.5 million, as the movie set opening-day records in
Britain, Germany, Australia, Brazil and other countries.
The new "Star Wars" film is the first installment in a
decade of the series, which was created by George Lucas in 1977.
Disney bought "Star Wars" producer Lucasfilm for $4 billion in
2012 and spent more than $200 million to produce "Force
Awakens."
The movie is now open in all markets except Greece and
India, where it starts playing Dec. 24, and China, which has set
a Jan. 9 debut. China is the world's second-largest film market.
"Force Awakens" has a shot at becoming the highest-grossing
movie of all time, according to some analysts. The current
record holder is "Avatar," which generated $2.8 billion
worldwide after its December 2009 release.
Critics applauded "Force Awakens," which features newcomers
Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac alongside original
stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
The movie, directed by J.J. Abrams, scored a 95 percent
positive rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.
Audiences awarded an "A" rating in polling by survey firm
CinemaScore, Disney said.