Star Wars Episode VII: The Last Jedi is officially in theaters, and had a pretty impressive opening weekend at the box office.
The second installment in the new Star Wars trilogy raked in an impressive $450 million in the domestic and international markets (excluding China, which doesn’t get the film until January 5). While that is well beyond Rogue One‘s opening weekend, it is less than The Force Awakens‘ opening weekend.
Of course, those ratings were expected. The Last Jedi doesn’t have the benefit of the years-long Star Wars dry spell fans were under when The Force Awakens released. And while the Rian Johnson-led film was intensely anticipated by fans, even Star Wars is subject to a bit of sophomore slump.
However, The Last Jedi still knocked it out of the park at the box office, and it is expected to have a higher theater rewatch rate than The Force Awakens. While Force saw a 51% drop in viewership after opening weekend, the amount of fans leaving theaters after Jedi feeling like they have a lot to digest has studio executives hopeful that they’ll return to watch the film again.
Related: Star Wars: The Last Jedi movie review: A stellar sequel that forges its own path
While the reviews from critics and fans are mixed, Johnson’s work on The Last Jedi certainly has fans talking. From his treatment of one of the biggest mysteries in this new Star Wars trilogy, to the diversity in the cast, and the inspiration the film leaves fans with, The Last Jedi entertains and makes you think.
Whether or not audiences truly appreciated those aspects of Johnson’s film will be told in the coming weeks. However, if initial box office and critic reviews are any indication, The Last Jedi will have a long, successful stay at the box office.
Source: Deadline
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