Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker continues its march towards the billion dollar mark at the global box office, with Disney and Lucasfilm’s blockbuster pushing its worldwide haul to $918.8 million after three weekends on screens.
Rise of Skywalker managed to make it three in a row at the top of the North American box office with a $33.7 million weekend, giving it $450.8 million domestically after 17 days on release.
Internationally, Episode IX has amassed $468 million so far, and box office analysts are suggesting that the film will cross the billion dollar mark globally next weekend, before finishing up its run with around $1.1 billion.
While a $1.1 billion haul would be considered a huge win for any other franchise except Avengers, that would leave The Rise of Skywalker some $230 million short of 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and almost an entire billion down on 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Couple this with the mixed-to-negative reviews and word of mouth (and a near-complete lack of merchandise), and it’s likely that Episode IX hasn’t quite been the success that Disney originally envisioned.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker sees J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) directing a cast that includes Star Wars veterans Daisy Ridley (Rey), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Greg Grunberg (Snap Wexley), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa) as well as new additions Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth), Richard E. Grant (Logan), Dominic Monaghan (Lost), and Keri Russell (The Americans).