Star Wars: The Last Jedi is on course to fulfil its box office destiny after opening with more than £27.5 million.

The sci-fi blockbuster was released on December 14 and is set to take the hefty sum in its first few days in cinemas.

Disney said the huge haul means the film has had the biggest opening of 2017 in the UK and the third biggest opening weekend of all time.

The movie, which stars Mark Hamill and the late Carrie Fisher, had the widest cinema release of all time, opening in more than 700 sites.

The latest instalment in the much-loved space saga also went down a storm around the world and has made a total of more than 450 million US dollars (£337.7 million) globally.

In the US, it collected an estimated 220 million US dollars (£165 million). The takings gave The Last Jedi the second biggest opening of all time in America, only behind its 2015 predecessor The Force Awakens.

The Force Awakens took an enormous £125.4 million in the UK – enough to make it the biggest UK box office film not just of 2015 but of all time.