Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi hauled in a whopping $620 million domestically and an astounding $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office, a sum large enough to pierce the top 10 biggest hauls of all-time. Therefore, it’s easy to see why Lucasfilm and Disney agreed to let the Looper director create his very own Star Wars trilogy, following the completion of the Sequel Trilogy, of course, which is scheduled to conclude on December 20th, 2019, with J.J. Abrams’ Episode IX.
Unsurprisingly, success followed Johnson’s epic onto home video. According to Variety, the space opera smoothly landed at number one on the DVD and Blu-ray charts. The Force Awakens sequel knocked Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle out of the top spot, which is said to have only sold 29% as many copies as The Last Jedi. 80% of the film’s sales are believed to be from Blu-ray purchases, while roughly 15% belonged to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.
Amongst the most notable features on the home video release is, of course, The Director and the Jedi, a feature-length documentary chronicling the film’s production from writer/director Rian Johnson and star Mark Hamill’s perspective. Hamill has been candid in the past about his problems with Luke’s arc, believing that his struggle with the narrative should’ve remained behind the scenes rather than in the public forum, which it ended up in when he aired his thoughts during an interview before release.
“I wish they hadn’t done that,” said the actor. “I’ll tell you why, because that should remain in the rehearsal process. That should be between the screenwriter and the director and I regret saying that out loud. I said it before I saw the whole movie put together. It prejudices people in a way that’s unfair because people that are unhappy with the movie will cite that and say, ‘See? Hamill hated it too.'”
Star Wars: The Last Jedi received much critical acclaim when it hit theaters in December, currently sitting at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. That being said, the film does represent a disparity between critics and fans, as the audience score is at a baffling 47% on the review aggregation website.
Perhaps now that it’s on Blu-ray, though, it’ll give those that didn’t enjoy it the first time around the chance to relive the film and maybe see it in a different light? After all, there’s much to like about what Johnson did here, even if he took some very bold steps.