Even With 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' 2017 Box Office Projected For 2% Decline

With 2017 nearing its end, projections for the year's overall box office are landing 2% short of its predecessor.

December 19 totals for the domestic box office in 2017 are sitting at $10.35 billion which is a 3.1% decrease from the same date in 2016. Films such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and Pitch Perfect 3 are expected to help close the gap a bit heading into the holidays but the overall numbers will fall short. In order to make up all of the shortcomings, the final 12 days of 2017 would have to nab more than $1 billion at the box office.

"I think the final number for 2017 will come in between $11.1 billion and $11.2 billion," Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore, told Variety.

Such a range places 2017's overall box office closer to 2015's $11.14 billion, which was the second-biggest year for the box office on record. 2017 will mark the third time the overall domestic box office has claimed more than $11 billion.

Most of 2017's shortcomings spawn from a lackluster summer at the box office. A lighter release schedule with some blockbusters sprinkled throughout lead to a $4 billion summer box office season lead by titles such as Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming. The unexpected massive debut of IT in September helped rebuild the year but films such as Justice League and Transformers: The Last Knight hindered the overall haul.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is certainly doing its part to help raise the box office's numbers. In its opening weekend, Episode VIII nabbed more than $220 million and is cruising to another weekend atop the box office charts.

Other films still to come in 2017 include Downsizing, All the Money in the World, and Father Figures.