Have you seen Rogue One: A Star Wars Story yet? Don't answer that; based upon the Thursday night numbers, there's a good chance that you already have. The latest installment in the Star Wars saga opened in theaters last night, and the money has started to pour in. In fact, Rogue One is already on track to become one of the most successful films of the year -- even if it's not keeping pace with The Force Awakens' numbers.
A report from The Wrap confirms that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is already off to an amazing start at the box office. The film brought in a whopping $29 million during its Thursday night preview showings, thus making it the biggest Thursday preview of 2016. That's pretty impressive when we consider the fact that highly anticipated franchise blockbusters like Captain America: Civil War and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice also premiered this year. It's a solid start, and it definitely seems to line up with the optimistic projections that Rogue One may rake in an astonishing $300 million worldwide haul over the course of its opening weekend.
However, as impressive as Rogue One's financial performance has already become, it doesn't hold a candle to The Force Awakens' Thursday night showings. When the seventh installment in the Star Wars franchise debuted in theaters last year it managed to bring in an insane $57 million, effectively destroying the record previously held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
It's not really a surprise to learn that Rogue One hasn't beaten The Force Awakens, and I don't think anyone expected it to. Although Rogue One was definitely a highly anticipated film prior to its release, The Force Awakens had the luxury of being the first Star Wars movie to hit theaters in a decade. Beyond that, Episode VII brought back familiar characters like Harrison Ford's Han Solo and Carrie Fisher's Leia Organa, while Rogue One relied almost exclusively on wholly original characters. Finally, there's the simple fact that -- while both films were rated PG-13 by the MPAA -- Rogue One has marketed itself as a more adult-oriented film. From the very beginning, Rogue One has always been a far less kid-friendly film than The Force Awakens, but it's clear that Lucasfilm went into the film's development with that in mind.
At the end of the day, it seems doubtful that Lucasfilm and Disney have any issue with Rogue One not matching The Force Awakens' box office opening. The latest Star Wars movie is still a complete and utter smash, and we have a feeling that it's going to make a lot of people very, very rich. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is now in theaters; make sure to check it out!
