Final Matrix film breaks record with £120m opening weekend

The final part of the Matrix trilogy had the most successful opening weekend in film history, grossing more than $200m (£120m).

The final part of the Matrix trilogy had the most successful opening weekend in film history, grossing more than $200m (£120m).

Released simultaneously on 18,000 screens in the United States, Britain, and 94 other countries, The Matrix Revolutions took $204m.

It beat The Two Towers, the second part of the The Lord of the Rings series, which took $188m worldwide in the first five days of its release last year, and ensured The Matrix trilogy's place as one of the most successful cinema franchises.

The first two films, 1999's The Matrix, and this year's The Matrix Reloaded, have already grossed nearly $1.2bn in worldwide ticket sales and hundreds of millions more in video, DVD and game sales.

The third episode, starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne, generated an estimated $50.2m in America over the weekend, bringing the US tally since its release on Wednesday to nearly $85.5m, according to Warner Bros. That was less than the $92m Matrix Reloaded took in its first weekend, but the worldwide takings guaranteed the final episode its place in cinema history.

The simultaneous release of the £80m Wachowski brothers-directed film was unprecedented, and led to a massive scramble for tickets, despite some critical early reviews.

The weekend's other major release, the British romantic comedy Love Actually, with a cast led by Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson and Liam Neeson, landed in sixth place in the US, with $6.6m in 576 theatres across the country.