‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Hits $1 Billion At The Worldwide Box Office

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has finally joined the billion-dollar club at the worldwide box office in its 28th day of release. The film has grossed $481.3 million domestically while earning an additional $519.7 million globally, which gives the film a combined total of  $1.001 billion. The Rise of Skywalker has also become the seventh film for the Walt Disney Company to hit the billion-dollar mark in 2019 joining Avengers: Endgame (the top-grossing film of all time, with $2.79 billion globally), The Lion King ($1.65 billion), Frozen 2 ($1.37 billion), Captain Marvel ($1.12 billion), Toy Story 4 (1.07 billion), and Aladdin ($1.05 billion), capping off a record year for the studio. The next question is, where does the film make its end at the box office compared to its predecessor Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which topped out at $1.33 billion globally. Analysts believe Skywalker has a shot at $1.2 billion to $1.25 billion. Read: Colin Trevorrow’s ‘Star Wars: IX’ Script Has Leaked Online; Title Was Duel Of Fates Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker sees the return of stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie (Doctor Who), Richard E. Grant (Gosford Park, Hudson Hawk), Dominic Monaghan (Lost), Keri Russell (The Americans), and Matt Smith (Doctor Who), who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian. The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Abrams and Michelle Rejwan. Callum Greene, Tommy Gormley, and Jason McGatlin serve as executive producers. The screenplay was written by Chris Terrio & J.J. Abrams and the story is by Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow and J.J. Abrams & Chris Terrio, based on characters created by George Lucas. The film is in theaters now. Source: The Hollywood Reporter