For the first time since the movie hit theaters on December 20, The Rise of Skywalker was not in the top ten at the domestic box office over the weekend. The finale to the Skywalker saga earned another $1.3 million over the Valentine’s Day/President’s Day weekend, which was good enough for the number 15 spot, sandwiched between Gretel & Hansel ($1.4 million) and Jojo Rabbit ($1 million). Yet, Jumanji: The Next Level, which came out a week before Episode IX, is still sitting comfortably in the top ten.
With another $5.5 million, representing less than a 1 percent drop week-to-week, Jumanji: The Next Level landed in the eight spot this weekend in its tenth week of release following its debut on December 13. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was in its ninth week. This is not to say that the latest from director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm is a financial failure. It’s not. To date, it has grossed $1.06 billion and has grossed more than Rogue One ($1.05) billion and Solo ($392 million). But this does offer some interesting perspective on the state of the franchise. And it also proves, once again, that The Rock should never be underestimated.
Jumanji: The Next Level, directed by Jake Kasdan, has grossed a truly impressive $779.7 million and counting. While it likely won’t catch its predecessor, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($962.1 million), it’s undeniably an impressive success story. When Welcome to the Jungle hit theaters in 2017, there was concern that Star Wars: The Last Jedi would overshadow it. It turns out there was room for both franchises and that’s why Sony didn’t shy away from going up against The Rise of Skywalker at the box office this time around. The Last Jedi wrapped up its run with $1.33 billion worldwide.
Speaking of The Last Jedi, director Rian Johnson’s second entry in the Star Wars sequel trilogy proved to be quite divisive, with critics generally loving it, while audiences were not unified in that feeling. The Rise of Skywalker had the inverse issue, with critics wildly divided and moviegoers generally seeming pleased enough, if not all of them over the moon about it. Interestingly enough, Johnson’s latest movie, Knives Out, which was released during Thanksgiving, is still chugging along and nabbed another $2.1 million this weekend, bringing its total $303 million worldwide.
Knives Out, coming off of its Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, was also playing on 1,035 screens in its 12th week of release, compared to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s 992 screens. Again, more than anything, these are just interesting observations above all else. All three of these movies have proved to be successful, relative to budgets and expectations. The numbers used in this report were provided by Box Office Mojo.
