Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Crosses One Billion Mark at the Box Office

It’s official: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has crossed the billion-dollar mark at the worldwide box office. THR reports that (as of writing this), The Rise of Skywalker has earned $1.001 billion in its 28th day of release. The domestic total for Episode IX now sits at $481.3 million, with international earnings totalling $519.7 million. At the pace Rise of Skywalker is now on, there’s legitimate question as to whether or not the Skywalker Saga finale can equal the box office earnings of its controversial predecessor, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson’s film earned $1.33 billion worldwide; analysts believe that Rise of Skywalker is going to fall in the $1.2 – 1.25 billion range.

Given how divided the Star Wars fandom is right now, The Rise of Skywalker’s box office race with The Last Jedi is surely going to become a thing. It’s not gone unnoticed that Rise of Skywalker tries to retcon a lot of what Rian Johnson did narratively and thematically in The Last Jedi, which quickly created camps of fans who are for one movie, and against the other. So, while more level-headed fans simply want to see how much each Star Wars Sequel Trilogy installment earns, the more… passionate fans will be measuring the quality and validity of Episodes VIII and VI by how many thousands they are able stack on top of their respective billion-dollar hauls. And while a few fans somehow fight that ridiculous battle of dollars out, Disney is just kicking back and counting another successful franchise film run. If you’re keeping count, Rise of Skywalker marks Disney’s seventh billion-dollar release in 2019:

1. Avengers: Endgame – $2.79B
2. The Lion King -$1.65B
3. Frozen 2 – $1.37B
4. Captain Marvel – $1.12B
5. Toy Story 4 – $1.07B
6. Aladdin – $1.05B
7. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – $1.001B (and counting)

What’s more telling here, is that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is not projected to come anywhere near close to Avengers: Endgame‘s $2 billion earnings – despite being the finale to what has been one of the most popular film franchises in the world, for over three decades. It speaks to the fact that the Star Wars movie franchise has lost a lot of shine during the run of the Sequel Trilogy and its standalone spinoffs. The Rise of Skywalker’s status as a milestone event film brought in viewers, but its divisive reaction from critics and audiences alike likely cut down on repeat viewings. The film also tanked in certain international markets (like China), which also hampered its chances from ever outpacing its Endgame cousin.

Luckily for Star Wars, while the films may be showing signs of exhaustion, the new live-action TV wing of the franchise is just heating up, courtesy of The Mandalorian.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now in theaters.