Surprising no one, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker — the ninth film in the mainline Star Wars saga — set the box office on fire over its opening weekend.

Per Variety, The Rise of Skywalker earned a whopping $176 million at the domestic box office this weekend, with the ticket sales from foreign markets bringing the film’s worldwide gross to $374 million as of today.

 

At $176 million, The Rise of Skywalker marks the lowest domestic opening for the most recent Star Wars trilogy — coming up behind 2015’s The Force Awakens at $248 million and 2017’s The Last Jedi at $220 million. Even so, Episode IX has enjoyed one of the biggest openings of 2019, marking a major win for Lucasfilm.

 

The Rise of Skywalker also now holds the record for the third-highest opening for a theatrical release in December, with first and second place belonging to The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, respectively. In other words, the December winners’ podium decidedly belongs to the galaxy far, far away.

 

“This is a great start for the kind of film you want to see in theaters,” said Disney’s President of Global Distribution Cathleen Taff. “We’re excited to see audiences showing up. The great thing about Star Wars is it’s so beloved and people are so passionate about it. [Director] J.J. Abrams and [Lucasfilm President] Kathleen Kennedy did a beautiful job in honoring that legacy.”

 

Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations, chimed in on Episode IX’s opening weekend haul as well. “Rise of Skywalker won’t match The Last Jedi’s overall numbers, but that said, it’s a problem any other studio would love to have,” he said. “The fact that this wasn’t their strongest outing and it still made an insane amount of money [shows] this is a cash cow. The fan base is unlike any other in Hollywood.”

 

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