• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

New

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Arts & Entertainment

‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’: Will It Win the 2017 Box Office

By
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 18, 2017, 12:47 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi blasted into theaters this past weekend, and the iconic movie franchise’s latest installment walked off with the second-biggest domestic opening weekend at the box office ever, at $220 million.

The Last Jedi made the jump into hyperspace (financially speaking) in its weekend debut, though the new movie could not quite catch up to its predecessor, as 2015’s The Force Awakens remains the box-office champion for a domestic opening ($247 million). The Last Jedi, which also posted the fifth-largest global opening box office of all-time at $450 million, may not be the biggest Star Wars movie ever, but the second movie in the franchise’s current trilogy is already well on its way to being crowned 2017’s box-office winner. And, that’s all despite a mixed reaction from many Star Wars fans, even as critics mostly liked the new film, which sports a 93% rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

The film from Walt Disney and Lucasfilm is only the fourth movie ever to top the $200 million-mark for a domestic opening, and its North American debut is the best of the year, topping Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast adaptation’s March domestic opening by more than $45 million. At the worldwide box office, The Last Jedi actually can not claim the biggest global box-office opening of 2017, as that title belongs to Universal’s The Fate of the Furious, with a whopping $541 million (the biggest ever) in April.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

As the year’s worldwide box office rankings currently stand, Beauty and the Beast ($1.26 billion) just barely edges out The Fate of the Furious ($1.24 billion) in terms of global earnings. The Last Jedi easily topped Beauty and the Beast‘s opening weekend, both domestically and worldwide, and the newest Star Wars movie also got off to a much faster start in North America than The Fate of the Furious ($98 million domestic opening).

It stands to reason that The Last Jedi will be able to jump past both movies to win the 2017 box-office crown, especially when you consider that the film has not even opened yet in one of the world’s biggest movie markets. The Last Jedi will not be released in China until Jan. 5, 2018, a long delay mirroring Disney’s release strategy in China two years ago for The Force Awakens, which went on to pull in $52 million total in that country, according to Box Office Mojo. Unlike with some big action movie franchises, China is not quite as lucrative of a box office market for Star Wars (blame a more meager following for the original Star Wars trilogy). But, the world’s second-biggest movie market should still bolster The Last Jedi‘s worldwide haul as the movie races toward box-office dominance for the year.

About the Author
By Tom Huddleston Jr.
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Arts & Entertainment

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Arts & Entertainment

Photo of Hank Green
AIYouTube
‘I’m mortified’: YouTube star Hank Green apologizes for ChatGPT overuse after fans accuse him of including a prompt by mistake
By Sasha RogelbergAugust 4, 2026
7 hours ago
d
CommentaryMedia
Why Paramount might win its case and still run out of time to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery
By Paul HardartAugust 4, 2026
9 hours ago
Photo of Christopher Nolan
Arts & Entertainmentimax
‘A hidden gem’: Odyssey fans are shelling out up to $2,000 to buy 70mm IMAX tickets on eBay
By Sarah GlodekAugust 3, 2026
1 day ago
e
CommentaryAntitrust
Careful what you bid for: The Ellisons’ Paramount/WBD deal is slipping toward a costly legal and financial cliff
By Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Nell Minow and Stephen HenriquesAugust 3, 2026
1 day ago
s
Arts & EntertainmentBox office
Spider-Man comes $2 million shy of Avengers record for all-time first-weekend record, already close to $1 billion global box office
By Lindsey Bahr and The Associated PressAugust 3, 2026
1 day ago
Tom Holland and Zendaya share another box-office hit as ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ makes history on the heels of ‘The Odyssey’
Arts & EntertainmentMovies
Tom Holland and Zendaya share another box-office hit as ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ makes history on the heels of ‘The Odyssey’
By Lindsey Bahr and The Associated PressAugust 2, 2026
2 days ago

Most Popular

How Zohran Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax exposed an epidemic of 'ghost cars' instead
Personal Finance
How Zohran Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax exposed an epidemic of 'ghost cars' instead
By Catherina GioinoAugust 4, 2026
17 hours ago
Bars, bowling alleys, and movie theaters cost too much to run and visit. Americans have run out of places to hang out and we're paying with our health
North America
Bars, bowling alleys, and movie theaters cost too much to run and visit. Americans have run out of places to hang out and we're paying with our health
By Catherina GioinoAugust 2, 2026
3 days ago
Ray Dalio on the AI bubble nearing 1929, 2000 levels and the lesson people always forget: 'Wealth is not the same as money'
Investing
Ray Dalio on the AI bubble nearing 1929, 2000 levels and the lesson people always forget: 'Wealth is not the same as money'
By Nick LichtenbergAugust 4, 2026
17 hours ago
Wall Street bulls are starting to admit the earnings bubble is real—and the 60/40 portfolio may be the first casualty
Investing
Wall Street bulls are starting to admit the earnings bubble is real—and the 60/40 portfolio may be the first casualty
By Nick LichtenbergAugust 3, 2026
1 day ago
Electric air taxis are finally ready for takeoff
Magazine
Electric air taxis are finally ready for takeoff
By Alexei OreskovicAugust 3, 2026
2 days ago
The Iran war already has a winner: The world’s largest shipbroker notching record earnings from the 'exceptional volatility' in the Strait of Hormuz
Energy
The Iran war already has a winner: The world’s largest shipbroker notching record earnings from the 'exceptional volatility' in the Strait of Hormuz
By Sasha RogelbergAugust 3, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.