There is no question that Disney’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be be a massive box office hit, with analysts predicting a $200 million opening weekend at the domestic box office, but it’s shaping up to be an even bigger hit overseas as well.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens held the all-time global opening weekend record of $529 million, including the domestic record of $248 million and the overseas debut of $281 million, for a year and a half, until Universal’s The Fate of the Furious broke that record with an impressive $541.9 million, with 81.8% of that tally coming from overseas with an international opening weekend record of $443.2 million and a decent domestic debut of $93.8 million.
If Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which is shaping up to be a critical hit as well with glowing Last Jedi reviews surfacing this morning, hits this projection, it will pass Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($422.5 million) as the fifth best global opening weekend of all time, falling just behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($483.2 million) in fourth place and Jurassic World ($525.5 million) in third place.
While Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($52.3 million opening, $124.1 million total) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($30 million debut, $69.4 million total) have fared well in China, both movies have opened in early January, and not at day-and-date with the rest of the world.