Is Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker A Billion Dollar Disaster?

Can a movie gross $1 billion AND still be a disappointment?

by Andrew Pollard
rise of skywalker rey
Disney

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has most certainly split opinion both within the walls of the WhatCulture offices and out in the real world. For every person who loathed the movie, there are some who adored the J.J. Abrams’ send-off for the famed Skywalker Saga. For every person who loved the movie, there are likewise those who view the picture as an abomination on a multitude of levels.

But with The Rise of Skywalker edging ever closer to that magical $1 billion box office haul, can the film be realistically labelled as the first $1 billion disappointment? That’s an argument Forbes has recently tried to make.

Given the movie’s believed budget of $275 million, $1 billion clearly represents a hefty profit margin for Disney and Lucasfilm. The thing is, does that $1 billion marker simply mask over some larger problems.

When Disney first announced the decision to move The Rise of Skywalker from its original May 2019 release to a December 2019 release, that was one smart move to attract a greater box office figure. After all, by running across late December, this effectively gives the movie chance to play during weeks where children are off school and workers are taking time off for the holidays – meaning that more people have more free time to take a chance on The Rise of Skywalker.

Even after a strong opening weekend in which the movie took $177 million, J.J. Abrams’ Episode IX has been hit badly in the picture’s week-to-week numbers. With each passing week, the film’s numbers have dropped by over 50% from the previous weekend’s figures – to the point that The Rise of Skywalker’s fourth-weekend drop is the second-worst ever for a movie budgeted at over $100 million. That infamous honour of the worst ever in that regard is Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Continued in part 2...

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.