Credit: Lucasfilm Star Wars fans have been waiting a very long time for the Saga to end.
Lucasfilm and Disney’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker officially hit theaters this past weekend and the numbers may not have been as high as expected.
Forbes is reporting 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.”
In comparison, The Last Jedi in 2017 had a $220 million launch, meaning Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had a 20% lower debut than the previous film. It also has a gross 29% below the $248 million launch of The Force Awakens in 2015.
Despite the lower box office numbers, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is still the third-largest December opening ever! If the estimates continue on this route, it will be the 12th biggest opening ever, coming between Beauty and the Beast, which earned $174 million in 2017, and Captain America: Civil War, earning $179 million in 2016.
The box office numbers aren’t the only negative thing this franchise finale is receiving. Star Wars fans have been reporting that the film is not at all what they expected and feel as if Lucasfilm and Disney fell short with the movie.
It currently has a 58% rotten rate with a 6.24/10 average critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. It also has a 54 at Metacritic, including 36 out of 54 reviews being extremely mixed.
On Cinemascore, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has a B+, which is interesting considering every prior live-action Star Wars movie received an A-, A or A+ grade.
But, even if Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker falls short, Disney still had an incredible year at the box office having six billion-dollar earning films debut (including the recently released animated film, Frozen 2) and has a future with Star Wars with the Disney+ Original series, The Mandalorian.
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 did you think of the film? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Forbes