All told, those five films earned more than $1.8 billion in pure box office profits. But while Disney may not have maximized profits for a number of reasons, the studio still walked away with one of the most lucrative runs in cinematic history.
With five Star Wars films in just four years, we’d agree. Last year, then Disney CEO Bob Iger conceded that the studio “put a little bit too much in the marketplace too fast” when it came to its shiny new Jedi toys. One of the prized pieces in my collection is the original Death Star model from Star Wars: A New Hope.Although I’ve been extremely lucky and fortunate to pick up many great items over the years, the one and only Death Star model used in filming A New Hope stands out as my number one conversation piece, dominating tours of our home and frequently a topic in many interviews (including prior. Ouch. And yet, despite all of the turbulence, the global blockbuster still hauled in a net profit of $300 million for the studio. It also received the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score (51%) of any live-action Star Wars flick. Specifically, it sunk 17% in North American box office and 19% in global sales from The Last Jedi. Rise of Skywalker marked lows in opening weekend ($177 million), domestic box office, international box office, and worldwide box office ticket sales among the sequel trilogy.
And while the film did make a bundle of money, it’s hard not to see it as something of a financial disappointment overall. But it is a fun-enough swashbuckling adventure space movie to have capped off a strong run for Lucasfilm. Okay, so J.J Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is not a great movie, nor is it a satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker Saga.