Jurassic World breaks box office record with highest-grossing debut of all-time

The Jurassic Park follow-up took a massive $512m over its opening weekend

Jurassic World could beat Avatar to become the highest-grossing film of all-time

(Universal)

Jurassic World has stormed into the global record books to score the highest worldwide opening weekend in history.

Colin Trevorrow's much-hyped fourth movie in the franchise about a dinosaur theme park that goes terrifyingly awry when the Indominus Rex escapes, grossed a massive $511 million (£330m) over its first weekend of release, Rentrak reports.

Final Harry Potter instalment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 held the previous world record opening at $483.2m in 2011, making Jurassic World the first to open above the $500m mark.

Jurassic World took $204.6m in the US putting it just behind Marvel's The Avengers, which earned $207.4m in 2012, as the second-highest domestic opening ever.

The last Jurassic film came 14 years ago with Jurassic Park III - the threquel to Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic. Analysts had predicted a box office smash for Jurassic World given this long wait but estimations of a $125m opening have been far exceeded.

One possible reason for Jurassic World's success is likely its appeal for multiple generations - those aged under 25 today and those who were fans of the Nineties original.

The 3D format proved popular with 48 per cent of US audiences opting to don the glasses, while lead star Chris Pratt is a familiar face, having starred in Guardians of the Galaxy and The Lego Movie last year.

Jurassic World dwarfed competitors, with Melissa McCarthy's Spy adding $16m and earthquake movie San Andreas $11m. No studio tried to rival Universal by releasing a new film, in what proved a wise move.

Universal will be celebrating the latest addition to their 2015 hits after winning big with Fifty Shades of Grey and Furious 7 earlier this year.

Will Jurassic World go on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, beating Avatar and Titanic? Watch this space.