Credit: LucasfilmDisney is continuing to climb up the charts of the box office thanks to Lucasfilm’s latest film, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The highly anticipated film was released on December 20, 2019 and has officially passed the $500 million mark in its first 8 days, earning a whopping $516.8 million worldwide.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker brought in an estimated domestic Christmas Day of $32 million, making it the second-best Christmas Day film ever, right behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The ninth film in the Skywalker Saga has already beat out its other Star Wars films including the 1983 Return of the Jedi and the 2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story. It is also expected that The Rise of Skywalker will surpass the 1980 The Empire Strikes Back and the 2002 Attack of the Clones by this upcoming weekend!
Though these numbers seem pretty high, they actually aren’t as high as they were anticipated. In fact, Forbes reported that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker “opened with $175.5 million domestic and $373.5 million worldwide and received a low Cinemascore grade and a poor weekend multiplier.”
If you are still unsure as to why these numbers don’t seem low, take a look at other Star Wars films such as The Last Jedi in 2017 which had a $220 million launch. When comparing the two, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had a 20% lower debut than The Last Jedi. In addition, The Rise of Skywalker has a gross of 29% below the $248 million launch of The Force Awakens in 2015.
Regardless of how Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ends up performing at the box office, it’s safe to say that Disney still had an incredible year. The Walt Disney Company has had a total of six billion-dollar earning films debut in 2019, including Frozen 2, the live-action The Lion King, and others.
You can read our full review of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker here.
Did you see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker yet? What do you think of the film? Let us know in the comments.
Source: ComingSoon.net