CNN/Money talks about one Star Wars record that fell today - the legions of LOTR fans meant it didn't stand a chance:

The debut of Time Warner Inc.'s "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" set box office records for the best Wednesday and the best single-day December sales, putting it on course to break the records of its two predecessors.

The final Lord of the Rings film did a record $34.1 million in U.S. box office Wednesday. New Line Cinema, the Time Warner studio that has released the three legs of the trilogy each December since 2001, said the film had domestic box office sales of $34.1 million Wednesday, on about 3,650 screens.

About $8 million of that came from 2,100 screens that held midnight showings in the early hours of Wednesday, capturing fans who couldn't wait to see the final chapter of the series.

The record for best Wednesday box office sales was previously held by "Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace," which took in $28.5 million in its first day in theaters in May 1999.