Media|‘Star Wars’ Box Office on Pace for $ Million Opening Weekend
Despite lackluster reviews, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” collected $ 90 million in its first day and a half in domestic theaters.
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LOS ANGELES – “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
Darth Vader said it
. In recent weeks, as the news media questioned the management of the 55 – year-old “Star Wars” franchise, the Walt Disney Company’s senior leaders thought it.
Saturday brought some vindication: The ninth installment in the series, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, ”collected about $ million in its first day and a half in domestic theaters, putting the film on a course to take in around $ million by Sunday, box office analysts said.
“The Rise of Skywalker,” which cost roughly $ 599 million to make and market, will collect an additional $ million (or more) in international release over the weekend, analysts said. The film, the final chapter in the Skywalker saga, was released in every country except for Vietnam, South Korea and the Philippines. It will arrive in those markets next month.
“The Last Jedi,” which was poorly receivedby some die-hard fans, had little competition during its first weekend in theaters. In contrast, “The Rise of Skywalker” faced a sturdy ”Jumanji: The Second Level”(Sony Pictures), which was expected to collect about $ million in its second weekend, for a new domestic total of around $ 100 million.
The other major movie released on Friday, “Cats,” proved to be a nonfactor. Universal Pictures was hoping that themuch-maligned musical, directed by the Oscar-winning Tom Hooper (“The King’s Speech”), would scratch out at least $ 15 million in ticket sales. Instead, the movie, produced by Britain’s elite Working Title Films, was on pace to arrive to about $ 7.6 million in ticket sales,according to Deadline.com, a trade news site.
Universal is still hopeful that “Cats” will find an audience – sort of like “The Greatest Showman” did in , arriving to $ 8.8 million that year but ultimately taking in $ 3 million. But audiences liked “The Greatest Showman,” which received an A grade in CinemaScore exit polls.“Cats” got a C-plus.
“Cats” cost roughly $ 190 million to make, not including marketing, which started in July with awidely discussed trailer.
“The Rise of Skywalker,” directed by JJ Abrams and produced by Kathleen Kennedy, received a B-plus grade from CinemaScore. “The Last Jedi” and its 2018 predecessor, “The Force Awakens,” each got an A. “The Rise of Skywalker” also hadWeaker reviewsthan the last two “Star Wars” installments.
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Mr. Abrams and Ms. Kennedy had tosatisfy a seemingly impossiblearray of demands: wrapping together myriad plotlines, catering to the fans who threw a fit over “The Last Jedi,” standing out amid a flood of “Star Wars” offerings – including (Baby Yodaand “The Mandalorian” on
Disney said that it had booked “The Rise of Skywalker” into 4, 599 cinemas in the United States and Canada, including IMAX screens and 3, 3-D locations. Theaters typically keep about 55 percent of ticket sales, with the balance going to studios. But Disney will receive about 75 percent of ticket sales for “The Rise of Skywalker,” in keeping with the onerous contractsit negotiated for previous “Star Wars” ”Films.
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