The Last Jedi has already made enough money to fill a Sarlacc pit
Looks like Disney will be able to buy as many solid-gold Porg statues as it wants this Christmas. Deadline reports that Star Wars: Episode VIII—The Last Jedi is already rolling in cash, as fans piled into opening night screenings on Thursday to the tune of $45 million.
Factoring in that haul—which comes in between the Thursday-night grosses of The Force Awakens ($57 million) and Rogue One ($29 million)—analysts are expecting an opening-day total of somewhere between $95-$100 million, about the cost of James Cameron’s poo lhouse. At that rate, there’s a good chance the film could break $200 million for the weekend, putting it in position to become either the second, third, or fourth highest grossing opening weekend of all time. It’ll be close, given the current second and third place titles held by Jurassic World ($208.8 million) and The Avengers ($207.4 million), respectively.
Given the overwhelmingly positive word of mouth (and solid B+ ratings from sites like, um, us), there’s almost no way The Last Jedi doesn’t take a lightsaber to a couple of box office titles this weekend. And remember: Just because a screening is sold out doesn’t mean you have to go see Ferdinand instead. That’s what movie theater bars were invented for.