‘Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’ Running Toward $700M+ Worldwide Through Sunday

Nancy Tartaglione

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FRIDAY UPDATE: Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker hit an upward offshore trajectory on Thursday versus Wednesday, adding $24.4M in 52 material markets for an international box office cume of $282.3M so far. December 26 was good for a 45% bump over Christmas Day and repped 15% of the initial weekend’s take. The global total is now $572M with $700M+ likely through Sunday.

The JJ Abrams-directed Episode IX yesterday also tightened its gap with Star Wars: The Last Jedi to -12% overseas (-7% when excluding China) across the first nine days. Domestically, Anthony’s sources see Skywalker rising above Last Jedi to outpace it by about 3% as of Sunday. Internationally, the same phenomenon could surely occur as well, if not quite as quickly.

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When today’s numbers are tallied, Rey, Poe & Co should have topped the $300M mark abroad as they head into the second weekend of play in the post-Christmas frame which comes with fewer holiday distractions. In 2017, The Last Jedi’s second weekend drop was a bit over 60%, though it’s worth keeping in mind that the sophomore Sunday was Christmas Eve which is typically slow in many offshore markets. Given the different holiday configurations, this FSS weekend for Skywalker could come in around $60M.

Notably, yesterday saw UK cinemas back in action on the Boxing Day holiday after being closed for Christmas. This remains the lead market, at $39M through Thursday. It’s followed by Germany ($32.2M), France ($25.9M), Japan ($21.5M) and Australia ($17.1M). China through Thursday has grossed $15.1M (through Friday, it’s at $15.8M per local reporting).

Disney is also opening Blue Sky Studios’ Spies In Disguise this session in such majors as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Mexico. It is not expected to have a similar impact on Skywalker as Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle did on The Last Jedi when the Dwayne Johnson-starrer bowed during TLJ’s second frame.

More to come over the weekend.

PREVIOUS, THURSDAY UPDATE: As it posted the second best domestic Christmas Day ever, Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker has zoomed past the $500M mark globally. North America’s current estimated $258.9M is about on par with the saga-ender’s $257.9M at the international box office. The worldwide gross through Wednesday is $516.8M.

Overseas, Skywalker added $16.8M on Christmas Day (which is 10% of its initial weekend). Cinemas are closed in the UK on the holiday, however the market continues to lead all play at $36M. Looking back at Star Wars: The Last Jedi, that film had an extra weekend of play before December 25 whose overseas gross represented 19% of its sophomore session.

Skywalker is currently running about 15% below Last Jedi internationally when comparing the first eight days of each installment. If we exclude China, which has grossed just $14.6M through Wednesday ($15.3M through today, which is not included in the total above), then Babu Frik and the Resistance are about 10% below TLJ.

Behind the UK, the Top 5 markets through Wednesday are rounded out by Germany ($29.3M), France ($22.8M for the 3rd best first week of the year), Japan ($19.8M) and Australia ($15.5M). That’s remains a pretty standard grouping for the space epic series.

We’ll have more updates through the rest of the week and weekend.

PREVIOUS, TUESDAY: After a confirmed $198.8 million international box office bow for Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker this past weekend, the Monday grosses have pushed Episode IX to $226.8M offshore. Globally, the JJ Abrams-directed flying Stormtroopers have hit $433.4M through yesterday.

While the initial overseas weekend session was off 16% from Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Skywalker looks to be closing the gap on the previous installment. It’s now about 12% down including Monday’s take. It is early to read the tea leaves given the varied holiday release pattern between the two films. We’ll know more throughout the seasonal corridor and into the early part of 2020. Still, no reason to think this last Star Wars pic won’t cross $1 billion worldwide.

On Monday, Skywalker added $28M from its 52 material offshore markets. This represents 17% of the first weekend. The Last Jedi did about 12%, though it had extra days pre-Christmas so is not apples-to-apples.

Currently, the top five markets on this saga-ender are the UK ($32.1M), Germany ($26.1M), France ($19.7M), Japan ($16.5M) and Australia ($14.2M). This is a traditional pattern for the space epic — each of these markets is typically within the top-five ultimates. Note that the UK closes its cinemas on Christmas Day, so the rankings could possibly shift by Thursday when we’ll next report.

China, to no one’s surprise, remains indifferent to the Resistance’s plight. The gross there through Monday is $12.9M.

More to come this week…

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