Let it be known that the month of December belongs to Lucasfilm’s Star Wars franchise.
Following the one-two punch of The Force Awakens ($248 million) and Rogue One ($155 million), figures relayed by The Hollywood Reporter have today revealed that The Last Jedi is tracking for a mighty $200m-plus opening weekend in North America. An impressive feat by anyone’s standards.
Disney is yet to release its own projections, but insiders anticipate another box office juggernaut from the folks at Lucasfilm, and a $200m bow would allow Star Wars: The Last Jedi to leapfrog Beauty and the Beast ($174 million), another Disney property, to become the biggest opening of the year.
As is par of the course for a Hollywood tentpole, these statistics were measured through unaided awareness – a section of movie polling designed to gauge how powerful a film property is among those audience members who express knowledge of a movie without prompting – and Star Wars: The Last Jedi scored 35 to Force Awakens’ 36. Per Deadline, “first choice is 23 for the Rian Johnson-directed sequel versus 22 for the previous J.J. Abrams title, while definite interest is 65 to 60.”
What does this all mean, exactly? In short: Disney and Lucasfilm surely have another billion-dollar hit on their hands. A $200m start in North America, coupled with those crucial overseas markets, will ensure The Last Jedi hits the ground running in four weeks’ time. And though Rogue One was never expected to reach the dizzying heights of The Force Awakens, we’re inclined to believe that Rian Johnson’s sequel will break past that $1 billion milestone with ease.
Of course, as with any box office projection this early in the game, there’s a chance Star Wars: The Last Jedi will place in the high $100ms on December 15th, as adverse weather and other unforeseen circumstances could have a bearing on the number of viewers willing to venture out to their local theater.
