Rogue One makes late bid to surpass Bridget Jones's Baby at UK box office

The battle to become the UK's biggest film of 2016 got under way on Thursday as the new Star Wars movie opened in cinemas across the country.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has just 17 days to beat Bridget Jones's Baby to the top of this year's box office chart.

To do so it will need take around £3m a day in ticket sales.

The film's distributors Disney will be hoping Rogue One repeats the success of last year's Star Wars film The Force Awakens, which took a record-breaking £87 million in the UK in just 15 days.

It went on to make a total of £123 million, making it the biggest UK box office film of all time.

But unlike The Force Awakens, Rogue One is a spin-off from the Star Wars series and does not feature any of the franchise's familiar characters.

The film has been eagerly anticipated by Star Wars fans, however, many of whom attended special screenings in cinemas at one minute past midnight.

Bridget Jones's Baby has taken £47.9 million so far in 2016, according to the British Film Institute.

Rogue One could make up to half of this amount on its opening weekend alone, but will need to maintain momentum through the Christmas holidays in order to secure first place in the box office chart of the year.

Other films likely to be overtaken by Rogue One include The Jungle Book (£46.2 million so far in 2016), Finding Dory (£42.8 million) and Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them (£42.4 million).