Pulling together numbers from Rogue One‘s box office cume with the overall total of the saga, it’s been revealed that the Star Wars franchise has amassed a staggering $7.34 billion worldwide since A New Hope lit up theaters all those years ago.
That puts it comfortably ahead of the James Bond franchise ($7.04 billion) to become the third highest-grossing series in Hollywood history, behind only the Harry Potter saga – one which encompasses both Warner Bros.’ core franchise and the burgeoning Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the latter of which stands at a mighty $10.9 billion after 14 movies.
Perhaps what’s most impressive about Star Wars bypassing Bond, though, is that Disney’s rejuvenated juggernaut has done so after only eight movies, with Rogue One being the film to tip the scales in the Mouse House’s favor. Keep in mind that that $7.34 billion figure is also counting revenue garnered from the re-releases of the original trilogy, along with the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie.
What’s more, the fact that the James Bond series remains in a state of limbo also contributes to the gulf, given the recent rights dispute between Sony and MGM, not to mention the ongoing ‘will he, won’t he?’ debate regarding Daniel Craig’s commitment to that license to kill.
Next up for the Star Wars franchise is the launch of Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII, which was just recently crowned the Most Anticipated Movie of 2017 by Fandango. December 15, 2017 is the date for your diaries, folks.