'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' has broken China's box office record. The movie was first officially released on Jan. 9, 2016 in Chinese theatres - about a month after its global release on Dec. 16, 2015.

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The opening allowed some stars from the film to attend promotional events in the country.  The stars, who were present in Shanghai during the premiere of the film, include actress Daisy Ridley as well as co-star John Boyega and director, J.J. Abrams.

The Star Wars film raked in approximately $53 million dollars (348 million yuan) in tickets on its very first weekend in China; settling a record for having the highest opening weekend in the country. 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' has become the third most successful movie in history worldwide, Walt Disney studio said. Titanic, which was released in 1997, is number 2 and the 2009's Avatar is top, with a total box office of $2.8 billion dollars.

Some die-hard fans were even seen wearing Stormtrooper costumes and C-3PO-themed-shirts to theatres showing the latest Star Wars film.

Disney, owners of the intergalactic franchise, has put considerable effort into marketing the movie in China. The company even went as far as putting 500 Stormtroopers on the Great Wall of China for a promotional event.

Since previous installments of the franchise were not premiered in China when they were released, The Force Awakens is the first Star Wars movie that many Chinese movie-lovers are seeing. However, all six installments of the Star Wars franchise are currently being screened in theatres in the country.

TagsStar Wars, J.J. Abrams, Daisy Ridley, Stormtrooper