Although some disparaging moviegoers are eager to dump on The Last Jedi for any number of reasons — from it’s smaller box office numbers relative to The Force Awakens to its outlier audience score on Rotten Tomatoes — there is no denying the film’s success in theaters. Despite a lengthy run time and some controversial decisions on the part of director Rian Johnson, The Last Jedi continues in the weeks after its release to top the box office and make an unconscionable amount of money for parent company Disney.
To date, the movie has made just as much within the United States as it has without it. It debuted to a commanding $220 million weekend gross. Just last week it cross the half-billion dollar mark. And over the upcoming holiday weekend, it is now expected to cross the $1 billion threshold: the new normal for major studio blockbusters.
As it currently stands, The Last Jedi appears as if it will ultimately fall short of The Force Awakens $2.07 billion gross. The movie’s longer run time (meaning that theaters can’t fit as many showings in each day as the previous movie) and the now familiar-feeling groove of the annualized Star Wars release schedule (meaning that the more regularly released sequels don’t feel like quite as much of an event) have pretty well seen to that. At the same time, however, it will handily trounce Rogue One‘s $1.06 billion earnings and inch respectably near Episode VII‘s gold-standard numbers.
The Last Jedi‘s continued success at the box office has helped push the now-Disney led franchise beyond the $4 billion price tag Disney paid for Lucasfilm in 2012. Everything that the film earns from here on out is pure profit for Disney now.
Because of the money the studio continues to rake in hand over fist, we will definitely see more of Rian Johnson: The Last Jedi‘s director whose singular vision helped propel the sequel to the levels of profitability that it is currently enjoying. Disney has allegedly already greenlit a new trilogy for him to direct: its concept accepted sight unseen. They clearly trust Johnson’s vision for the franchise to afford him so many high-profile movies and such unprecedented freedom to create whatever he desires. Then again, they’ll soon have one billion reasons to do so.
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