Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Has Awesome Box Office Weekend With 40th Anniversary Release

The Super Mario Bros. Movie won the weekend at the box office once again, becoming the first movie of the year to cross the $1 billion mark. Seeing the animated hit once again atop the box office wasn’t much of a surprise, but taking a look at some of the other big winners of the weekend, it may some as a bit of a shock that one of the largest box office hauls over the past few days belongs to a film that’s been out for 40 years. 

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was released back into theaters across North America this weekend, allowing fans to see the original trilogy-ender on the big screen. For many Star Wars fans, this was potentially their first chance to see Return of the Jedi in theaters. People clearly took the opportunity, as Return of the Jedi had a solid weekend at the box office.

Despite being released back in 1983, Return of the Jedi made just under $5 million at the box office this weekend. Showings of the film are continuing throughout the week, so that total will continue to climb higher over the next several days. That’s a pretty impressive feat for a movie that’s been around for four decades.

The Return of the Jedi re-release was announced at Star Wars Celebration, which took place in London this year. Artist Matt Ferguson designed a brand new poster specifically for the film’s theatrical comeback.

“I’m so happy and grateful to get to work on these movies again, even more so to be given the freedom to continue what I started with Empire,” Ferguson shared. “For that poster, a cold mechanical vibe completely takes over the whole composition. But Return of the Jedi is very much the triumph of Luke and the Rebels, so I wanted to have more of the warmer colors coming back into the art, hence pivoting to green with red accents.” He continued, “The artwork should tell a story, so for me it only made sense to give over the composition to those two characters. Will Luke be turned? Is Vader going to overcome the darkness? It’s all about the pull between good and evil.”

Did you go see Return of the Jedi in theaters this weekend? Let us know in the comments!