Turns out the early tracking numbers for the opening of Lucasfilm’s Episode VIII were pretty damn accurate after all. The Last Jedi has opened to $220 million in box office sales here in the United States as forecast last month. And as for the eye-popping $450M+ global opening predicted earlier this month? Mission accomplished for the eighth theatrical film in the Skywalker saga.
The Force dominated at the box office as Disney-Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi opened with a stellar $220 million weekend at 4,232 North American sites — the second-highest opening weekend of all time.
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” trails only the $248 million launch of 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
The tentpole opened with $104.8 million on Friday (including $45 million from Thursday night previews) for the second-best opening day of all time, followed by $64 million on Saturday and a projected $51.3 million on Sunday. With international grosses hitting $230 million, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” totaled $450 million worldwide.
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” has become only the fourth movie to top $200 million domestically in its opening frame, joining 2015’s “The Force Awakens,” 2015’s “Jurassic World” with $208.8 million, and 2012’s “The Avengers” with $207.4 million. It will finish the weekend 29% above the “Star Wars” spinoff “Rogue One,” which opened with $155.1 million on the same weekend a year ago.
