Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has almost certainly now joined the billion-dollar club. The finale of Disney’s Sequel Trilogy increased its global haul to $996.5 million on Monday, meaning today is the day when it’ll crack that magic golden ceiling. Grossing a billion dollars used to be an extremely notable and rare occurrence, with Titanic being the first-ever movie to do so. Nowadays, though, it’s not such a rare thing.
But while The Rise of Skywalker has indeed grossed a billion, it’s still running significantly behind its predecessors The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, perhaps indicating a tapering off of enthusiasm for Disney’s take on Star Wars. I reported earlier today that the pic’s fourth-weekend haul saw an unprecedented 92% drop-off from its opening week, which may indicate that unlike previous movies, diehard fans aren’t double-dipping.
But let’s not be too gloomy here. After all, Return of the Jedi also grossed a couple of hundred million less than A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back on its original release. And given that we know a Star Wars film can genuinely flop – see the shocking underperformance of Solo: A Star Wars Story back in 2018 – Disney will at least be relieved that they’re making money on it.
However, a declining box office combined with mediocre reviews and reports of executive meddling in the movie may indicate that Kathleen Kennedy’s tenure as President of Lucasfilm may be coming to an end. My bet is that with the Sequel Trilogy out of the way and the next Star Wars movie not due in cinemas until 2022, Disney will be on the hunt for someone that can deliver the goods for the franchise in the same way Kevin Feige can for Marvel. Watch this space for more.
