Disney's Star Wars Films Surpass $4 Billion Worldwide

CBR

Disney's Star Wars Films Cross $4 Billion, Surpassing Lucasfilm Purchase Price

By Kevin Melrose

Published Dec 29, 2017

Five years after Disney purchased Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion, the combined box offices of the three new Star Wars films have passed that sum.

Director Rian Johnson's divisive Star Wars: The Last Jedi is closing in on $940 million worldwide, pushing the revived franchise past $4.06 billion -- the sizable sum Disney paid in 2012 for Lucasfilm.

Of course, The Hollywood Reporter offers a couple of crucial caveats: The figure doesn't account for the hundreds of millions of dollars Disney spent producing and marketing Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and The Force Awakens, nor does it take into consideration the mountains of cashed brought in by, say, merchandising.

The first installment of the new trilogy, 2015's The Force Awakens, enjoyed the biggest opening weekend of all time on its way to earning $2.068 billion worldwide. Its sequel, The Last Jedi, has surpassed Wonder Woman to become the second-highest grossing film of 2017; it's projected to finish its theatrical run with $1.6 billion worldwide.

The franchise's first standalone film, Gareth Edwards' Rogue One, earned $1.056 billion, cementing its place as the second-highest grossing release of 2016. It will be followed in May by Solo: A Star Wars Story, which focuses on the adventures of a young Han Solo.

The Walt Disney Co. has undergone a significant expansion under CEO Bob Iger, buying Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion, Marvel Entertainment in 2009 for $4 billion, and Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4.06 billion. Earlier this month Disney announced plans to acquire key assets of 21st Century Fox, including its film and television production studios, in a deal valued at $66 billion.

In theaters now, Star Wars: The Last Jedi stars Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, Benicio Del Toro as ‘DJ’, Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, and the late Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa.