BackDisney’s Rogue One surges into weekend with $71.1 million haul
Rogue One generated $33 million from international ticket sales through Thursday from countries including the UK and Germany that account for about 60% of the total international box office
Premium
Los Angeles: Ticket sales of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story through Friday put it on track to top the box office and post one of the biggest opening weekends of the year, validating Walt Disney Co.’s strategy of spinning new stories and characters off of the sci-fi classic.
The feature, a prequel to the original 1977 Star Wars, collected an estimated $71.1 million in theaters in the US and Canada through Friday, Disney said in an e-mail Saturday. It generated $33 million from international ticket sales through Thursday from countries including the UK, Australia and Germany that account for about 60% of the total international box office. It will debut in South Korea on 28 December and China on 6 January.
Ticket sales from Thursday night’s preview drew $29 million domestically. Star Wars: The Force Awakens holds the Thursday night preview record with $57 million. Only a handful of films have topped $30 million from preview screenings, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,The Dark Knight Rises, and some of the Twilight films. Before Rogue One, the biggest preview this year had been Warner Bros.’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with $27.7 million.
ALSO READ | Film review: Rogue One
Disney estimated that the film’s full opening weekend will generate between $140 million and $150 million domestically. The studio also sees the film bringing in $130 million to $150 million outside North America.
Some box office analysts had more aggressive forecasts. Box Office Mojo put the domestic debut at $166 million, Hollywood Stock Exchange put it at $166 million, and BoxOfficePro.com forecast an opening weekend for the sci-fi feature at $155 million.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens holds the record for the largest opening weekend in North America, with $248 million.
Expanding universe
With Rogue One, Disney is testing its ability to expand the Star Wars franchise beyond the trilogies created by George Lucas, following its $4 billion takeover of Lucasfilm Ltd in 2012. Like the strategy Disney applied successfully with its Marvel Entertainment superheroes, the studio is creating a universe of characters and storylines that can be interwoven to create new movies. The pressure on Disney will be to keep fans coming back to theaters for at least four more Star Wars instalments.
Disney has scheduled Star Wars: Episode VIII for December 2017 and another stand-alone movie, about a young Han Solo, for May 2018. Episode IX and another stand-alone film are expected.
Rogue One cost $200 million to produce, not including marketing costs, according to Box Office Mojo.
Death star
In 1977, the first Star Wars movie depicts a rebel alliance led by Princess Leia that attempts to destroy the Galactic Empire’s space station, the Death Star, by using stolen plans. Rogue One is the story of how they get those plans. Felicity Jones plays reluctant rebel Jyn Erso, whom the rebel alliance drafts to help find out about a weapon of destruction the Empire is building and how to destroy it to save the galaxy.
The movie scored highly with many critics, with 85% giving positive reviews, according to aggregator Rottentomatoes.com. The movie is “a tense, well-made spacefaring war movie about a desperate and demoralized band of insurgents standing up against a rising authoritarian regime," according to NPR critic Chris Kilmek.
The weekend’s only other new wide release is Warner Bros.’ Collateral Beauty, featuring Will Smith and Helen Mirren in a critically panned tale about a New York advertising executive trying to recover from the death of his daughter. It was forecast to generate $10.9 million, according to Hollywood Stock Exchange. Bloomberg
Christopher Palmeri also contributed to this story.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
