By Valeria Bula
The eighth installment to the 40-year-old sci-fi franchise made a box office shattering comeback this weekend. Star Wars: The Last Jedi brought in $450 Million in tickets worldwide since its release on Friday, collecting an estimated $220 Million in North American theaters in over 4,000 theaters, making it the largest debut of the year. These numbers, however, do not include China – the world’s second biggest film market – where the film is set to debut January 5.
The domestic opening is the second largest yet, falling just 11 percent short of the initial ticket sales of Star Wars: The Force Awakens which grossed $248 Million in 2015.
Unlike The Last Jedi, The Force Awakens was met with unique circumstances that allowed the film to court in a larger audience. It was the first Star Wars film in 32 years that included a star studded cast of industry favorites such as, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia. The film was also the first Star Wars movie to be produced by the Walt Disney Company (Disney purchased Lucasfilm back in 2012).
Although 3-D screenings are being increasingly avoided, the turn-out for The Last Jedi was better-than-expected. 3-D format ticket sales accounted for 30 percent of ticket sales, according to Disney, a decrease from 47 percent for The Force Awakens.
“This shows that new ‘Star Wars’ characters are connecting with a new generation of fans. It shows that, when there is a true event movie, people want to see it on the biggest screen possible,” said Greg Foster, chief executive of Imax Entertainment.
The film brought back some classic characters and also focused on some newcomers. It brought back Carrie Fisher in one of her final roles as General Leia and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker. The film largely focused on rebel fighter Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, the evil Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, and pilot Poe Dameron, played by Oscar Isaac.
The film surpassed all its other competition, with the animated 20th Century Fox film Ferdinand, which brought in $13.3 million, and followed by Coco, grossing in $10 Million.
