Everyone was pretty much expecting massive worldwide box office receipts for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker once it opened on December 20, and the film has not disappointed. And, while it's always fun to see what a movie like that will do during the holidays, when people are free to go to the movies at any time of the day or night, we can now say that The Rise of Skywalker still managed to crush the competition on Christmas Day, even though it didn't come away as the new box office title holder for the holiday.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker dominated the Christmas Day box office with $32 million, coming out way ahead of Jumanji: The Next Level ($12.6 million), Little Women ($6.4 million) and Uncut Gems ($5.9 million). While Rise of Skywalker didn't manage to reach the top of the Christmas Day box office peak, at least the film was able to make sure the top two stayed in the family, as it's now in second place behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which made $49.3 million on the same holly jolly date back in 2015.
Those Christmas Day numbers led to The Rise of Skywalker finishing Wednesday with $258.9 million domestically and $259.9 internationally for a worldwide total of $516.8 million. According to The Hollywood Reporter, if people keep coming out in droves this week for the finale to the long-running Skywalker Saga, the movie should have no problem staying at the top of the charts for the rest of the holiday week, and noted that it could bring in up to $150 million just between Wednesday and Sunday. Not bad, huh?
Whether you've already visited your local multiplex to check out Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker or not, you will likely already know that people have had a lot of things to say about the movie, and several of those things have been less than kind. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which graced December with its own debut in 2017, left a lot of be desired for many fans, so not only was anticipation for The Rise of Skywalker even higher than it would have been already, it was largely seen as the only hope (See what I did there?) for the franchise to end on a high note.
Unfortunately, while millions of us have been willing to shell out our hard-earned dollars to see The Rise of Skywalker on the big screen this holiday season, the actual content of the film hasn't fulfilled the hopes and dreams of many. It was already going to be a difficult task to wrap up such a beloved, far-reaching story, but adding the loss of Carrie Fisher (and her necessarily diminished role in the movie) and the still negative feelings over The Last Jedi to the mix probably added several levels of intricacy for the filmmakers.
Of course, Star Wars is still Star Wars, so it's quite probable that many people who saw The Rise of Skywalker and disliked it will go back to the theater for another showing, just so that they can crystallize all of their reasons for completely tearing the movie a new one. Such is the legacy of a film that tries to wrap up any franchise as cherished as this one.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will likely be in theaters for quite a while yet, so feel free to add your money to its ever growing ticket sales. For more on what you can see in theaters next year, check out our 2020 movie release schedule!
