After less than a week in theaters, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has already crossed the half-billion mark at the box office. The movie may be suffering from generally tepid reviews and seems to be causing huge divides among the fans, but people are still shelling out their hard-earned cash to go and see it for themselves.
It helps that we’re in the middle of the holiday season, a time when theaters are usually packed with families heading out to enjoy a movie, and crossing $500 million globally in the space of just a few days should alleviate fears that The Rise of Skywalker was set for commercial disappointment after the $175.5 million opening weekend fell short of projections.
The pic is still pacing well behind The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi though, with the lukewarm critical reception and general franchise fatigue possibly being factors. The Force Awakens raced past $500 million in just five days, but the 2015 return of Star Wars was a colossal cultural event, one that played a huge part in J.J. Abrams’ franchise debut breaking all sorts of records.
The Last Jedi couldn’t hope to compete with a movie that earned over $2 billion worldwide, a matter that wasn’t helped by some insanely negative reactions from fans. Still, Rian Johnson’s middle chapter made over $450 million during the course of its first three days in theaters, and by comparison, it seems that The Rise of Skywalker is suffering from the Star Wars brand losing some of its shine recently.
Still, there’s virtually no way that the final chapter in the Skywalker Saga doesn’t sail past a billion dollars with ease, despite how some fans feel about the movie, making Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker yet another lucrative entry in one of the biggest and most bankable brands in popular culture.