Star Wars: The Force Awakens surpasses Avatar to become the top-grossing film of all time in North America

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has soared past "Avatar" to seize the title of top-grossing movie ever in North America, the Disney studio announced.

A Disney media release said the seventh film in the "Star Wars" saga had surpassed the $760.5 million earned by James Cameron's Oscar-winning futuristic sci-fi epic "Avatar" on Wednesday.

At $1.56 billion in global earnings, "The Force Awakens" still has some work ahead to overtake "Avatar" ($2.79 billion) or another Cameron blockbuster, "Titanic" ($2.19 billion), in the global market.

It is now fourth in all-time worldwide revenues, also trailing "Jurassic World" ($1.67 billion).

But many observers expect the film, produced by Lucasfilm and Bad Robot Productions and distributed globally by Disney, ultimately to challenge for the top spot.

The upcoming release on Saturday in the huge Chinese market of the film directed by J.J. Abrams could help give it a further push.

The success of "The Force Awakens" - detailing the adventures of classic "Star Wars" characters Princess Leia and Han Solo as well as new heroes like Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron - helped propel the overall American box office to a record $11.1 billion last year, the Rentrak website reported.