Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker On Track For $200 Million Opening Weekend

Impressive. Most impressive.

by Andrew Pollard
Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker Rey
Lucasfilm

As fans eagerly await a big-screen return to a galaxy far, far away, the early expected opening weekend figures are in for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Courtesy of Deadline, the final arc of the Skywalker Saga is currently tracking at a gross number in the region of $175 million - $205 million. As an opening weekend, that represents an extremely healthy number, yet that estimated amount is lower than both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi's opening weekends.

For J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens, the silver screen return for the Star Wars series opened to $250 million, while Rian Johnson’s much-maligned The Last Jedi took $220 million during its first weekend.

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While franchise fatigue could well play a part in The Rise of Skywalker’s eventual box office total, not to mention the backlash that The Last Jedi received in some quarters, this next Star Wars offering also finds itself opening up directly opposite Jumanji: The Next Level in North American markets.

Some may have initially scoffed at a Jumanji picture offering genuine competition to a grand scale Star Wars effort, yet Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle managed to nab a cool $960 million at the global box office despite opening alongside The Last Jedi.

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Directed once again by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens worldwide from December 19th.

Senior Writer
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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.