LOS ANGELES ¨C ¡°Star Wars¡± movie ¡°The Rise of Skywalker¡± opened in theaters with $374 million in global ticket sales over the weekend as fans rushed to see the final chapter in the long-running film saga, distributor Walt Disney Co. said on Sunday.
Roughly $176 million of the total came from the United States and Canada, ranking as the 12th-biggest opening of all time in the world¡¯s largest film market.
The massive ticket sales show ¡°Star Wars¡± remains one of the few Hollywood franchises that can draw big crowds to theaters. But the results fell short of recent ¡°Star Wars¡± films. The 2015 movie ¡°The Force Awakens¡± debuted with $248 million domestically and 2017¡¯s ¡°The Last Jedi¡± had a $220 million debut.
The domestic total also landed below early analyst projections of $200 million, but ahead of Disney¡¯s more conservative forecast of $160 million.
Directed by J.J. Abrams, the new movie concludes a story begun by George Lucas in 1977 and centered around a young hero named Luke Skywalker. The latest episode, the ninth in the series, stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac as a trio taking up the fight against evil in the galaxy.
Critics have been divided on ¡°Rise of Skywalker,¡± with detractors saying the plot was convoluted and unimaginative.
But many fans have embraced the latest chapter. About 86 percent of ¡°Rise of Skywalker¡± ticket buyers surveyed by website Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie positive reviews.
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