At the end of 2019, Disney had six movies in the billion dollar club, and in the coming weeks, it looks like the House of Mouse will collect one more. While the movie is the lowest-earning installment of the Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is still nearing on ten digits at the global box office as it heads into its third weekend.
After 14 days in theaters worldwide, Rise of Skywalker has earned $840 million. The difference between the domestic and overseas’ gross is almost split down the middle, with $417 million and $423 million respectively, per Box Office Mojo. J.J. Abrams’ final installment is just $160 million away from hitting the milestone – that's not too steep of a goal considering the movie hasn’t been out for a month yet.
On the domestic front, it looks like The Rise of Skywalker will end its run as the third-highest grossing movie of 2019. Forbes predicts the Star Wars release will jump atop Captain Marvel’s $426 million, Frozen II’s $430 million and Toy Story 4’s $434 million by the end of its domestic run, with only The Lion King’s $543 million and Avengers: Endgame’s $858 million being superior.
In comparison, The Last Jedi topped its own year and The Force Awakens became the No. 1 domestic release of all time. Overall, The Rise of Skywalker has seen a lower box office performance than its 2017 predecessor, The Last Jedi. The conclusion opened below initial expectations of $200 million, with $177 million the first weekend.
However, The Rise of Skywalker did have a disadvantage due to its release date falling on the weekend before Christmas Day – the most popular shopping days of the year. The Last Jedi opened on December 15, giving shoppers 10 days to fit in both seeing the movie and heading to the mall before the big holiday.
Frozen II scored its $1 billion title after its third weekend at the box office, with a lower $130 million opening weekend to work with. Will The Rise of Skywalker follow suit? There are four major releases hitting theaters this weekend: Sam Mendes’ critically-acclaimed 1917; civil rights drama Just Mercy starring Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson and Jamie Foxx; the Tiffany Haddish-led comedy Like A Boss; and horror film Underwater with Kristen Stewart.
The Rise of Skywalker has also been met with negative buzz among fans and critics, perhaps lowering interest in theaters. On Thursday, fans campaigned for another cut of the movie to be released after rumors about deleted scenes became viral. Response for the film is overall mixed with its Cinemascore at a B+.
Have you check out The Rise of Skywalker in theaters yet? Will you go out to see it again? Sound off in the comments and check out five reasons why to be excited about the future of Star Wars.
