4 Ways to Look at "The Last Jedi" at the Box Office

As “The Last Jedi” enters its sixth weekend at the box office, the film begins to solidify its position in cinematic history. How does it compare to "Rogue One"? Does it stack up to "The Force Awakens"? How about "The Phantom Menace"?

It is interesting to note that some columnists insist that the movie was a Box Office disappointment. To be fair, these writers are probably just trying to earn clicks. After all, the same columnists are already insisting that “Solo: A Star Wars Story” will be the first Star Wars box office bomb (with little real evidence to back this up).

In reality, "The Last Jedi" is a massive success. Here is proof: The Empire Strikes Back earned only 55% of ticket sales compared to the original "Star Wars", which released 3 years prior. Attack of the Clones earned 59% of "The Phantom Menace’s" ticket sales, also 3 years after the fact. The Last Jedi is a different story. Before the end of its run TLJ has already earned 60% of "The Force Awakens" ticket sales and it has done so after only 2 years and it has done so even though “Rogue One” released last December.

         We will probably never see a Star Wars movie be as big of box office hit as “Star Wars”, “The Phantom Menace”, or “The Force Awakens”. After all, “The Force Awakens” was the first Star Wars film after a 10 year hiatus, "The Phantom Menace" was the first after a 16 year hiatus, and "Star Wars"… was a cultural phenomenon. I cannot imagine a scenario where Disney puts the Star Wars franchise on hold for another decade. We probably will never again see another perfect-storm scenario that made those three films the biggest films of their time. But when you consider the reality that "The Last Jedi" will end its run with 70% of "The Force Awakens" box office- it’s kind of miraculous. It should give Disney hope that one Star Wars film per year is not going to oversaturate the market… at least not yet.

Highest Domestic Box Office

1. The Force Awakens               2015             $936,662,225

2. Avatar                                        2009             $760,507,625
3.Titanic                                        1997             $658,672,302
4. Jurassic World                         2015             $652,270,625
5. The Avengers                           2012             $623,357,910
6. The Last Jedi                            2017            ≈$604,000,000
7. The Dark Knight                     2008             $534,858,444       
8. Rogue One                                2016             $525,444,763
9. Beauty and the Beast            2017             $594,902,305
10. Finding Dory                         2016             $486,295,561
11. The Phantom Menace        1999             $474,544,677
12. Star Wars                               1977             $460,998,007

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32. Revenge of the Sith             2005             $380,270,577
64. Attack of the Clones            2002             $310,676,740
66. Return of the Jedi                1983             $309,306,177
83. Empire Strikes Back           1980             $290,475,067


In this first chart we notice that "The Last Jedi" will finish its run somewhere around "Marvel’s The Avengers". It is noteworthy that six of these top ten films are Disney releases and that the last non-Disney film to make this top ten list was 2015’s "Jurassic World". We notice that the original 1977 “Star Wars” film has been pushed out of the top ten this year by “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Last Jedi”. “Star Wars” amazingly, spent over 40 years on the Top Ten Domestic Box Office list and, now that it is gone, the oldest film on the list is "Titanic". Since this list is constantly in flux, there is certainly a change that "Rogue One" will be off of the top ten by 2019, probably after the release of "Episode IX". Furthermore, there will be a day that "The Force Awakens" will no longer reign as #1- although it’s probably safe for the foreseeable future- probably for another decade.

Highest International Box Office

1. Avatar                                       2009             $2,778 million
2. Titanic                                      1999             $2,186 million
3. The Force Awakens              2015             $2,068 million
4. Jurassic World                       2015             $1,671 million
5. The Avengers                         2012             $1,518 million
6. Furious 7                                 2015             $1,516 million
7. Avengers: Age of Ultron      2015             $1,405 million
8. Harry Potter 7: Part 2          2011             $1,341 million
9. The Last Jedi                          2017             ≈$1,296 million
10. Frozen                                   2015             $1,276 million
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23. Rogue One                            2016             $1,042 million
28. The Phantom Menace       1999             $1,029 million
61. Revenge of the Sith            2005             $848 million
77. Star Wars                              1977             $775 million
116. Attack of the Clones         2002             $649 million
166. Empire Strikes Back        1980             $538 million
198. Return of the Jedi             1983             $475 million

            It has become sort of a “known-fact” that Star Wars films don’t compete well on the international market. This "fact" is at least partially true. Most mega-box-office hits make around 60% - 70% of their sales overseas. Recent Star Wars films seem to earn less than 55% of their sales in international markets, and "Rogue One" stands out as an extreme case earning only 49.6%. So, you could say it’s a problem- a problem that Disney has spent time and money trying to fix. On the other hand, you’ve got both “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi” on the worldwide top ten list. Star Wars movies may appeal to Americans more than many other cultures, but there is no doubt that Star Wars is still a massive international success.

Domestic Grosses Adjusted for Inflation

1. Gone with the Wind             1939             $1,804,258,500
2. Star Wars                                1977             $1,590,608,000
3. The Sound of Music             1965             $1,271,769,300
4. ET                                              1982             $1,266,759,200   
5. Titanic                                      1999             $1,210,478,700
6. Ten Commandments           1956             $1,169,830,000   
7. Jaws                                          1975             $1,143,743,800
8. Doctor Zhivago                      1965             $1,108,529,600

9. The Exorcist                           1973             $987,650,600
10. Snow White                         1937             $973,370,000
11. The Force Awakens           2015             $965,467,800
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13. Empire Strikes Back           1980             $876,753,100
16. Return of the Jedi                1983             $839,950,500
18. The Phantom Menace        1999             $806,486,800
46. The Last Jedi                         2017             ≈$604,000,000
58. Rogue One                             2016             $539,743,700
65. Revenge of the Sith             2005             $529,768,500
95. Attack of the Clones           2002             $477,473,400          

Adjusting for inflation is always a good reality check for any film. The only 21^st century film to even come close to breaking into The Top Ten is “The Force Awakens”. That isn’t to say that modern films don’t make money. Dozens of 21^st century films can be found on the top 100 grossing film adjusted-for-inflation list, including a handful from the last decade. The idea that cinema is somehow dying seems a little crazy. In fact, cinema seems to be standing up strong in the face of home video, cable, and streaming. The experience of enjoying a drama or comedy with an audience is an age-old phenomena and I believe that it is an innate element of the human race. Hearing audible gasps during the Admiral Holdo death scene is enough to convince me that there is merit to the crowd experience. “The Last Jedi” will come close to breaking the top 40 films of all time. On a list which includes movies dating back 80 years, top 40 is not so bad, especially after considering my next list.


Domestic Grosses Adjusted for Inflation since 1977

1. Star Wars                                1977             $1,590,608,000
2. ET                                              1982             $1,266,759,200   
3. Titanic                                      1999             $1,210,478,700
4. The Force Awakens              2015             $965,467,800

5. Empire Strikes Back            1980             $876,753,100

6. Avatar                                      2009             $868,974,500

7. Return of the Jedi                 1983             $839,950,500

8. Jurassic Park                          1993             $820,863,000       

9. The Phantom Menace         1999             $806,486,800

10. The Lion King                     1994             $796,077,500

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22. The Last Jedi                        2017             ≈$604,000,000
28. Rogue One                            2016             $539,743,700
32. Revenge of the Sith            2005             $529,768,500                   
50. Attack of the Clones          2002             $477,473,400

            On this list we adjust for inflation once again, but I take out all films released before 1977. There is actually a good reason for this. Films released before the home-video era have an unfair advantage. “Gone With The Wind” is a good example of this phenomenon . The film released in 1939 and its initial run lasted until 1943. If over 4 years in cinemas wasn’t enough, it was re-released in 1947, 1954, 1967, 1974, 1989, and 1998. So that’s why I’d like to ignore films such as “Gone With The Wind”. When focussing on the last 40 years of cinema only, the results are pretty stunning. Within the top nine, every single film is a Spielberg Film, a Cameron Film or a Star Wars Film. As for "The Last Jedi": in the grand scheme of things, "TLJ" beats out exactly three other Star Wars films: last year’s “Rogue One” and Episodes II & III. In other words, "The Last Jedi" is the second most successful 21^st century Star Wars film.

Looking Ahead

            The Month of May will also be an exciting time for the Star Wars box office. “Solo: A Star Wars Film” will be the first Star Wars summer release since 2005. It is the first time a Star Wars film will release only 6 months after a previous Star Wars film. What effect will this have on the “Solo” box office? We’ll find out in a few months!

The Force Awakens Box Office Post 

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2016/01/5-ways-to-look-at-force-awakens-box.html

Rogue One Box Office Post
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/02/rogue-one-at-box-office-how-does-it-rank.html

Corellia & Kessel: What We Know

Solo: A Star Wars Story is only 4 months away. We don’t know much about the movie, but we do know that the planets of Corellia and Kessel are likely to feature in the film. Fans have long wondered what these legendary planets might look like, and answers are soon upon us.

Corellia

Corellia is the home planet of many Star Wars legends such as Han Solo, Wedge Antillies, Dengar, and even Bo’Shek.  It was first mentioned in the 1976 novelization of “Star Wars”. Corellia is one of The Galaxy’s Core worlds, along with Coruscant. (Notice a pattern?) Corellia is home to various ace pilots and many notable starships (including the Falcon and Tantive IV). Beyond these sparse facts, Disney canon doesn’t tell us much about Corellia.

To learn more we would have to dig into the old expanded universe, or the “Legends” universe. We know that it had a capital called Cornet. We know that the population is primarily human. We know from the 2011 game “The Force Unleashed” that Corellia is home to a canine creature called a “Corellian slice hound” or “Razor Hound”.  Of course these “facts” are no longer facts, and the writers may or may not rely on outdated sources for inspiration.

Kessel

The planet Kessel is mentioned twice in the film “A New Hope”. In one of the film’s first lines of dialogue, C-3PO is worried that he and R2 will be sent to the “Spice Mines of Kessel”. Star Wars fans know that “Spice” is an illicit drug. According to the show “Star Wars: Rebels”, Wookiee slaves were used to harvest the spice- so perhaps a fateful meeting will occur on this planet?
We hear about Kessel a second time in “A New Hope” when Han Solo mentions the “Kessel Run”. Solo claims that his ship, The Falcon, was able to make this run in less than 12 parsecs, although fans aren’t quite sure what this actually means.

Originally the word “parsec” might have been a misnomer that Lucas used in the script to mean “time”. Although science-prone nerds were quick to point out that a “parsec” is a unit of distance. The expanded universe attempts to explain why a ship might be able to make a “run” through varying degrees of distance.

The “Legends” explanation is that Kessel is surrounded by an asteroid belt called “The Pit” and a black hole cluster called “The Maw”. Therefore smugglers must use navicomputers to calculate faster routes through the maze of asteroids and black holes. This is George Lucas’ explanation of the Kessel Run, anyway-  it is unknown whether the writers of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” will follow suit.

41 ½ Years Later

Corellia and Kessel were first introduced to fans in November of 1976. These planets have always been important to the expanded universe and now, 41 ½ years later, we will finally see these planets in a theatrical film. Even if “Solo” is a critical disappointment, Corellia and Kessel could be the consolation prize that fans need.

Top Ten TIE Fighters

TIE fighters have been iconic since they first screamed onto screens in the summer of 1977. Over the years, hundreds of TIE fighter variations have been created. Here are my top ten:

#10 TIE Crawler

The Empire must have had some extra TIE cockpits lying around when they designed this armored vehicle. It is officially known as a century tank and the design is fairly simple.

The TIE crawler first appeared in a 1992 comic book as an early example of an expanded universe vehicle. It continued to appear in comics and books, then in 2007 it was released as a 548-piece Lego set. The vehicle has yet to enter Disney canon.

#9 Mining Guild TIE Fighter

Apparently the Empire agreed to let the Mining Guild use TIE fighters, as long as they made them yellow. The front solar panels on each side of the fighter have been removed to increase visibility. This fighter has appeared in episodes of “Star Wars: Rebels” as well as a recent Visual Encyclopedia.

#8 Imperial TIE Fighter
(TIE/ln space superiority starfighter)

The classic Imperial TIE Fighter is a simple design. They were short ranged, mass produced fighters built without hyperdrives. TIE supposedly stands for Twin Ion Engines, although the real story behind the name is that the 1970s model makers thought they resembled a bow-tie.

#7 TIE Striker
(TIE/sk x1 experimental air superiority fighter)

The Striker was designed for atmosphere missions and they were notably used during the battle of Scarif.

The Striker was marketed heavily during the promotion of "Rogue One" and was featured in several toy models including a Lego set, a Hasbro vehicle, a Micro-Machine model, and in the X-Wing miniature game.

#6 Special Forces TIE Fighter
(TIE/sf space superiority fighter)

The Special Forces First Order Tie Fighter is notable because of its ability to seat two pilots. The Special Forces fighter was reserved for only the most elite pilots. This vehicle was distinguished from other First Order TIE fighters (TIE/fo)  by the red stripe on its left side.

One of these fighters was stolen by Finn and Poe in their escape from The Finalizer, early in The Force Awakens. 

#5 TIE Bomber

(TIE/sa bomber)

The Empire often used TIE Bombers as the first line of offense in battles to weaken capital ships or bases. The Bombers were piloted from the right pod, where the left pod carried the explosives, which could include concussion missiles, proton torpedoes, proton bombs, thermal detonators, or orbital mines.

Though TIE Bombers are most associated with the Empire Strikes Back, it was actually designed during production of “A New Hope” and it even appeared in a 1978 comic, two full years before the release of “Empire”

#4 Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer
(TIE/vn space superiority fighter)

Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer is a mean-looking, sleekly designed ship, first seen in “The Last Jedi”. Apparently Pablo Hidalgo originally wanted to name this ship the TIE Vandetta, hence the “vn” in its technical name. The red windows of this fighter combined with its long wing panels, causes it to resemble a Cylon Raider from Battlestar Galactica. It's certainly a dangerous looking ship.

#3 TIE Interceptor
(TIE/IN interceptor)

The TIE Interceptor was designed to compete with ultra-fast Rebel ships such as the A-Wing starfighter. The Interceptor was first featured in “Return of the Jedi”. During the Battle of Endor, these fighters represented 20% of the fleet. Interceptors were sometimes called "squints" by Rebel pilots, and they were notably superior to the regular TIE fighters

#2 TIE Defender
(TIE/D defender)

The TIE Defender was one of the few TIE designs that featured both shields and a hyperdrive. The Defender was first featured in the game “Star Wars: TIE Fighter” in 1994. This was the first Star Wars game where you could play as The Empire. Later, the Defender would appear in novels, the Customizable Card Game, and a 2010 Lego set.

The Defender was reintroduced into Star Wars canon through the video game “Star Wars: Commander” and in the third season of Star Wars Rebels.

#1 Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced

(TIE/x1)

Vader’s TIE Advanced is iconic and perfectly designed. One wonders, why the Empire ever bothered with those rigid-looking -dime-a-dozen TIE fighters, when they could have had fleets of Adanced x1’s instead.

It is not known exactly what happened to Vader’s ship between “A New Hope” and “Empire”. The ship does appear frequently in the current line of comics, so perhaps we will get an explanation eventually.

Not On This List:
TIE Bizarro

(TIE Experimental M1)

The 1999 game, “Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance” introduced several odd entries in the TIE fighter line, including the TIE Warhead, the TIE Bomb, and the TIE BigGun. Fortunately, none of these are canon, but the most bizarre fighter in this line-up was the TIE Bizarro. This unfortunately designed ship features one wing panel sandwiched between two cockpits. It does not surprise me that this massive design-fail of a ship was introduced to Star Wars fans in the same year of Jar Jar Binks.

*UPDATE: July 2020*

4 More TIE Fighters

Two Star Wars films and a live action TV show have released since I published this article, so I wanted to add some TIEs to this list to reflect an ever-expanding galaxy.

TIE Brute

The TIE Brute was an Imperial starfighter that housed twin laser canons in a pod to the left of the cockpit. The TIE was used frequently during the Empire's expansion years to help infiltrate planets. Han Solo himself flew a TIE Brute during his time in the Imperial Navy.

The TIE Brute appears in the film "Solo" and during production it was nicknamed the "Bubba" TIE.

TIE Dagger

 

TIE Daggers were used by Sith forces under the command of the resurrected Emperor Palpatine. This TIE was designed to be deadly and intimidating. Heavy laser canons were wedged between twin triangular shaped wings on both sides of the starfighter. Its menacing appearance was meant to strike fear in the hearts of enemy pilots.

Some fans lovingly (or not so lovingly) refer to this model as the TIE Dorito. This TIE is featured in a 2020 Lego model called "Sith TIE Fighter".

TIE Whisper

 

The TIE Whisper model was designed by The First Order to have better stealth systems than normal TIE models. During his reign as Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren used modified TIE intercepters- which were also labelled TIE Whisper. He used one such craft to travel the galaxy in search of Darth Sidious. This ship was destroyed on planet Pasaana by Rey. Kylo Ren used another TIE Whisper to fly to the Endorian moon Kef Bir.

Outland TIE Fighter

For years fans have wondered how TIE fighters actually landed (do they land?) Some Star Wars media showed TIEs docked from the ceiling in hangar bays. "The Force Awakens" showed TIEs stacked against stepped walls. But one TIE model, Outland TIE fighter, can actually fold its wings to land on a planet. This design was taken from unused "Force Awakens" concept art and was repurposed for "The Mandalorian" TV show.

In "The Mandalorian" it is Moff Gideon who flies an Outland TIE Fighter. "Chapter 7: The Reckoning" shows Gideon landing on planet Nevarro in his craft. Perhaps the model was an experimental Imperial design or perhaps TIEs were modified after the fall of the Empire.

Top 10 Lists

Top 10 Tie Fighters
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/01/top-ten-tie-fighters.html

Top 10 Lightsabers
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/02/top-ten-lightsabers.html

Top 10 Bounty Hunters
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2013/03/top-ten-bounty-hunters.htm

Top 10 Troopers
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/02/top-ten-troopers.html

Top 10 Star Wars Ships

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2020/07/top-10-star-wars-ships.html

Top 10 Star Wars Battles
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/01/top-ten-star-wars-battles.html

Top 10 Planets
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2013/01/top-ten-planets.html

Top 10 Jedi Council Members
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2013/04/best-jedi-council-members.html

Top 12 Astromechs

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/09/astromechs-ranked.html

Top 15 Ewoks

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/08/ewok-month-part-2-top-15-ewoks.html

Top 5 Lightsaber Duels
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2013/01/top-5-lightsaber-duels.html

TV shows ranked
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/05/tv-shows-ranked.html