“I have a bad feeling about this,” said no one ever when predicting the box office fortunes of Star Wars: The Last Jedi which was always guaranteed to make a killing. However, there was a prevailing consensus among pundits, backed up by the lower performance of Rogue One last year, that The Last Jedi would not be able to reach the record-breaking highs of 2015’s The Force Awakens which had become an unprecedented Event with a capital E thanks to being the first Star Wars entry in a decade and a widely publicized return to the filmmaking approaches of the 40-year old Original Trilogy. And that consensus was indeed correct, as The Last Jedi wasn’t able to dethrone The Force Awakens as the biggest box office opening of all time this weekend past. It came rather close though.
The Last Jedi brought in a whopping $220 million in the US alone this weekend, giving it the second largest domestic opening weekend ever behind The Force Awakens’ $247 million. The Last Jedi also posted the second largest Thursday night preview ever, the second largest opening day ever, second largest single day ever, second largest Friday ever, and only the second film in history to earn over $100 million in one day. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, the first place for all of those is occupied by The Force Awakens.
Internationally, The Last Jedi more than doubled its domestic earnings by bringing in an additional $230 million, with the UK leading the race in international markets with $36 million. Yes, the UK and not China, but that’s only because The Last Jedi has yet to open in the Middle Kingdom, which is the second largest movie market in the world. This is actually a big deal. As it currently stands, The Last Jedi the fifth largest global debut with $450 million, however a number of movies ahead of it on that list opened in China on the same weekend. Take their Chinese box office contributions out of the mix, and The Fate of the Furious ($541 million) and Jurassic World ($525 million) drops heavily down the list to The Last Jedi the third largest global debut ever behind The Force Awakens ($529 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($482 million).
It has to be pointed out though that the new Star Wars movies have not had the type of reception in China that some of these other franchises have, purely because the original films never aired there so there isn’t this entire generation of filmgoers who obsess over the Star Wars franchise like in other parts of the world. Just to give an example of this, The Force Awakens earned $52 million in its lifetime from China, but The Fate of the Furious – a newer franchise that modern Chinese filmgoers have grown up with – earned a mammoth $184 million there. Either way though, The Last Jedi is already a huge box office smash – as predicted – and will definitely continue to earn a ton more in the coming weeks.
With most of the other entries on the US charts just jumping down a sport or two according to the changes at the top, that’s really all the box office news we have for today, so I… Oh wait. It turns out there was actually another movie silly enough to open up in the US next to the Star Wars juggernaut. I guess I need to cover it too. The movie in question is animated kids fare Ferdinand which sees (or doesn’t see, as it were) John Cena voicing a cartoon bull. Unfortunately for production studio Blue Sky, much like the myth believed about bulls, they’re probably seeing red right now. The red of their financial books, I mean. Despite opening in second place, Ferdinand could only pull in $13 million, the lowest opening ever for the studio. Internationally it could only add another $6 million to that figure which puts it still a very long way from even matching its $111 million budget.
Let’s see what the rest of the US box office chart looks like:
No. | Movie Name | Weekend gross | Percentage change | US Domestic gross | Worldwide gross | Last Week's Position | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Star Wars: The Last Jedi | $220 million | NE | $220 million | $450 million | NE | |
2 | Ferdinand | $13.3 million | NE | $13.3 million | $19.5 million | NE | |
3 | Coco | $10 million | -15% | $150.8 million | $448.2 million | 1st | |
4 | Wonder | $5.4 million | -36% | $109.2 million | $153.6 million | 3rd | |
5 | Justice League | $4.1 million | -56% | $219.4 million | $633.9 million | 2nd | |
6 | Daddy's Home 2 | $3.8 million | -35% | $96.5 million | $157.5 million | 6th | |
7 | Thor: Ragnarok | $2.9 million | -52%% | $306.3 million | $841.7 million | 5th | |
8 | The Disaster Artist | $2.6 million | -58% | $12.9 million | $15.5 million | 4th | |
9 | Murder on the Orient Express | $2.4 million | -52% | $97.2 million | $297.9 million | 7th | |
10 | Lady Bird | $2.1 million | -38% | $25.9 million | $25.9 million | 9th |
NE = New Entry
Last Updated: January 8, 2018
RinceThis
December 18, 2017 at 12:39
Good on ya Last Jedi, damn good movie!
For the Emperor!
December 18, 2017 at 13:31
Worth watching in cinema and did enjoy it, but it is a “only once in cinema” movie for me. Some EPIC scenes which we cannot discuss now for fear of spoiling for others 🙂
RinceThis
December 18, 2017 at 13:48
I watched the media screening, the cinema is TERRIBLE. So defo need a rewatch in a decent cinema.
For the Emperor!
December 18, 2017 at 14:36
I did Prestige 🙂
Guz
December 18, 2017 at 14:42
Did imax/3d should have splurged for the prestige, movie was long,not complaining thou but did get a stiff sitting for so long
For the Emperor!
December 18, 2017 at 14:44
Big reason for me to do Prestige, are the queues to get my popcorn and slush. Prestige I walk laughing past the peasants 🙂 IMax I only take certain seats, and if I do not get them I skip the show.
Kervyn Cloete
December 19, 2017 at 10:10
You got a stiff?… While I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to be this open with us, please note that this is a family site. :p
Guz
December 19, 2017 at 10:37
LOL didn’t see that sorry,should proof read my comments, keep things PG
Original Heretic
December 18, 2017 at 14:43
That’s what happens when you abuse your “media powers”. You watch bad quality copies. And then, you get infected with a deadly virus, which many experts have come to call “dumbess dickus”, which can be roughly translated as “a person with the stupid phallus”. It’s a crippling disease, because it makes you believe that every movie you watch is terrible and stupid.
Biggest problem is, it creeps in so slowly that you won’t even notice it. Only years from now will you look back and realize just where you picked it up.
The main point is, I’m fucking jealous, I wish I’d watched it already!!
HvR
December 18, 2017 at 16:29
Anybody tried Sterkinekor D-Box?
http://rockylouproductions.com/blog_wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/HawaiiChairGIF00.gif
Original Heretic
December 18, 2017 at 12:45
Last Jedi is number one?! No….really?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/71a9d30ea8dbbb28267e56783a58476b075b48879a7ba1362762d6722aec00bd.gif
HvR
December 18, 2017 at 14:36
Ferdinand is number 2 like Bono
For the Emperor!
December 18, 2017 at 13:30
Personally, I do not believe right now TLJ will have the staying power and long term earnings as THA. The movie has some AMAZING scenes, but there were enough holes of various types in the movie that made me feel “I enjoyed it, but next viewing will be at home”, while THA I wanted to buy another cinema ticket immediately. I will not spoil of course and do believe it is worth at least 1 viewing in cinema, but not 2. Go out and see it people, but only once 🙂
Kapitan Balalaika
December 18, 2017 at 20:14
Are we going to get a “Best TV Series of 2017” article?