Star Wars: The Last Jedi takes $450m on opening weekend

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Image copyrightEPA

Image captionThe Last Jedi had the second biggest grossing opening weekend in North America

The latest Star Wars film generated more than $450m (£337m) in global ticket sales on its opening weekend.

The total for The Last Jedi includes $220m (£165m) from box offices in the US and Canada, placing the film second in the all-time list for North America.

It trails behind the 2015 release Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which opened with a record-breaking $248m (£167m).

But the sum dwarfs that of its nearest rival, the computer-animated comedy Ferdinand which took $13m (£10m).

• In third place, the Disney/Pixar animation Coco brought in just over $10m (£7.5m) during its fourth weekend in North American cinemas.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the eighth instalment of the 40-year-old space saga and is directed by Rian Johnson, whose credits include Brick and Looper.

Image copyrightLUCASFILM

Image captionDaisy Ridley stars as Rey, a survivor toughened by life on a harsh planet

It sees Mark Hamill and the late Carrie Fisher reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. 

British actors Daisy Ridley and John Boyega also return from The Force Awakens.

The film has been widely praised by critics, and has a score of 93% on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes.

Will Gompertz, the BBC's Arts Editor, gave it four out of five stars and said it was "packed with invention, wit, and action galore".