The final Lord of the Rings film has broken box office records in 13 countries including the US and UK since being released on Wednesday. It has made a total of $57.6m around the world in just one day.

The film set new records for first-day ticket sales worldwide, including Germany, Puerto Rico and Chile, industry website Screen Daily reported.

And in the US, it took $34.1m in one day - a record for a movie released on a Wednesday.

The Rings finale, which has been widely praised by critics, beat the Wednesday record held by Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

The overall one-day opening record of $39.4m is held by Spider-Man, followed by The Matrix Reloaded with $37.5m.

Distributor New Line hopes the movie will break the $1bn global box office barrier. Titanic holds the current box office record, taking $1.83bn in 1997.

Executives hope the latest movie's fast start will propel it beyond worldwide totals made by The Fellowship of the Ring ($861m) and The Two Towers ($921m).

The new film should surpass the $102m that The Two Towers earned during its first five days, said Rolf Mittweg, president of worldwide marketing and distribution at New Line.

'Separation anxiety'

"I don't think anything can go wrong actually," Mr Mittweg said in an interview, following the positive reception from critics and fans.

The cast includes Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin and Orlando Bloom.

Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo, has said now that the final film is released he expects "a certain feeling of sadness and separation anxiety".

"We're going to have to arrange something for next year to bring us all back together," said Wood.

Source: BBC, UK