Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Pace for Huge Opening Weekend Box Office

The final film in the Skywalker Saga is just hours away from releasing on the silver screen, and the buzz for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has reached a fever pitch. Anticipation for the movie has built with the release of new trailers and footage, and it appears that fans are ready to pack in theaters across the globe to find out how the franchise ends. And it looks like Disney and Lucasfilm can once again expect the film to make a ton of money, as box office forecasts are predicting a massive opening weekend for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

According to a new report from Variety, industry analysts are predicting Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will make between $175 million to $200 million in the domestic box office, while Disney themselves are predicting a more conservative amount of $160 million in North America.

That's a far cry from the claims of Star Wars fatigue which were persistent after Solo: A Star Wars Story failed to perform to expectations at the box office. And Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said she doesn't expect fatigue to set in with both Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Star Wars: The Mandalorian dominating the discourse.

"I don't think there was a worry about that," she began. "And I think we've been pleasantly surprised. We're going into television. We've never done [live-action] television for Star Wars. So, yes, there's an unknown and I suppose you could say there was an underlying risk. But what we absolutely knew is that the two are very different in look and feel and were not in any way trying to do the same thing. So we arrived at a point of view pretty early that we thought the two could live comfortably side by side. And I actually think the fans are having fun with Mandalorian and I think it will only help The Rise of Skywalker."

It looks like many people are eager to see how the Star Wars saga ends, especially when it comes to the end of the Skywalker story. And while we might not see Luke Skywalker or his clan be the focus of future movies, it looks like we will have the chance to see these characters appear in the future.

Kennedy explained that there is a possibility for some familiar faces to show up in different projects down the line.

"I have to say it's a mixture of emotions, I have to say because we've had such an incredible time," Kennedy said. "It's just flown by these five years and doing these three movies and to realize that we're completing the saga and we're not finishing the Skywalkers necessarily, they could always in one way or another reappear but for right now it is bringing it to a close."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premieres in theaters on Friday, December 20th.