'Rise of Skywalker' Has a Merry Holiday
by EG
Star Wars: Episode IX-The Rise of Skywalker might not have had the biggest opening weekend in franchise history, but it definitely ruled the Christmas holiday. Merrymakers turned out in force to finish up the the franchise's thrid trilogy. Read on for details.
With kids sprung from school, J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker flew to $29.2 million Monday, the sixth-best showing of all time and ahead of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
And so begins the most lucrative two weeks of the year at the box office, when weekdays can turn in weekend-like numbers once presents are unwrapped Christmas Day. (On Dec. 16, for example, Jumanji: The Next Level took in less than $4 million on its first Monday, compared with $7.3 million yesterday.)
Rise of Skywalker, which opened to $177.4 million domestically over the weekend — slightly ahead of Sunday's estimated $175.5 million — will have no trouble staying atop the chart and hopes to make up precious ground after posting the lowest domestic opening of the trilogy it closes out.
Globally, the movie soared past the $400-million mark on Monday to $433.4 million in worldwide ticket sales, including $206.6 million domestically and $226.8 million overseas.
Fellow Monday record-holders are Black Panther ($40.1 million), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($40.1 million), Avengers: Endgame ($36.9 million), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($32.1 million) and Force Awakens ($31.4 million). Rogue One's haul was on Dec. 26, 2016, a federal holiday, while Black Panther's first Monday was President's Day.
Two years ago, Rian Johnson's Last Jedi grossed $26.5 million on Christmas, a Monday (the holiday itself can be tough in terms of traffic).
Domestically, Skywalker scored the third-biggest December debut of all time behind Abrams' Force Awakens in 2015 ($248 million) and Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017 ($220 million), which divided fans.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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