this morning. down more than 2% to $37 a barrel. that is driven by iran s pledge to increase output. the force awakens made $1 billion at light speed. passed the $1 billion mark 12 days time. that is a full day faster than jurassic world. it led the box office this weekend bringing in $153.5 million. it s reign is just beginning. the film hasn t opened in china. the second biggest market. i tell you, 2012 when disney bought lucasfilm for $4 billion. i have not seen it. say nothing. looking forward to seeing it. i ll be part of the second billion. donald trump extending attacks on hillary clinton to her husband. the new insults flying in the race for the presidency.
100 million couples. it is designed to address the chinese rapidly aging population. stocks reopen today after a three day christmas break. stock futures are pointing down a bit. the dow gained 2.5%. oil prices are moving lower this morning. down almost 2% to $37 a barrel. the national average is just under $2 today. the force awakens made $1 billion at light speed. just 12 days after the global release. a full day faster than the previous record holder of jurassic park. it led the box office again this weekend bringing in $153.5 million. the film hasn t opened in china. the second biggest market.
it. it was cool. thank you both so much for taking time out. by the way, they re predict all these box office records. and here at the tcl chinese theater, they say they are also outpacing all expectations. and they expect to satter the box office records. reporting from hollywood, i m paul vercammen. now back to you. paul, thank you. and what you saw there in l.a., that is not the scene in china. as the new star wars film hasn t triggered the same frenzy seen everywhere else in the world. the franchise isn t all that familiar in china, and won t be seen until much later. let s go to cnn s matt rivers, who joins us from beijing. matt, good have you. let s talk about this. why help our viewers understand why this movie won t be shown until three weeks after it is shown in the united states and elsewhere. well, as of right now, the chinese government set the release date here in china for january 9th. about three or so weeks after the u.s. premier.