Jump to content

The Last Jedi Box Office


Poe Dameron
 Share

Recommended Posts

The running total can be found here.

 

Day 1: $104.8 million (about $45 million came Thursday evening).

 

Short of The Force Awakens' $119.1 million, but still more than enough to make it the second biggest opening any film has ever had.

 

Looking forward, this will likely not do nearly as well during its first week as The Force Awakens. Two years ago, the dates lined up perfectly so that all schools were out for its first two weeks in theaters. This year, many, if not most, schools will remain open next week. Not to mention the inescapable fact that it's not the first Star Wars film in a decade. Still, it's virtually guaranteed to top the yearly chart.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm really interested to see if there's a big drop-off after the weekend, given that every reaction is either OMG BEST SW MOVIE EVER or OMG WORST SW MOVIE EVER.

I think there is a lot of people like myself who are somewhere in between. I didn't think this was the worst. I enjoyed the movie, but did not think it was the best. I have only seen it once and plan on seeing it again maybe this coming week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm really interested to see if there's a big drop-off after the weekend, given that every reaction is either OMG BEST SW MOVIE EVER or OMG WORST SW MOVIE EVER.

I kept away from even the spoiler free reviews because I didn't want to be built up like TFA and then let down because it wasn't a gift from God. When I started reading reviews the morning, even the ones with really positive titles had a laundry list of buts. This evening I'm going to pour through some more reviews. I'm dying to see the long of view from a completely positive review.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the long and short of it is-- it takes some big swings. There's two big factors that I think are guiding most reviews.

 

The first is, whereas TFA seemed to revere the OT, and Star Wars itself, TLJ wanted to tear it down for a fresh bold new direction into the unknown.

 

That's a very derisive act for fandom. Most fanboys hate change no matter how much they say they welcome it, so the fan backlash comes from here. Casual fans won't care. And there's a smaller set that will enjoy it.

 

I appreciate the idea of tearing it all down. But that said, the second big factor is that on a level playing field, just as a movie in and of itself, there's some pretty serious structural and plot flaws.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest madddox

The first is, whereas TFA seemed to revere the OT, and Star Wars itself, TLJ wanted to tear it down for a fresh bold new direction into the unknown.

 

That's a very derisive act for fandom. Most fanboys hate change no matter how much they say they welcome it, so the fan backlash comes from here. Casual fans won't care. And there's a smaller set that will enjoy it.

 

I appreciate the idea of tearing it all down. But that said, the second big factor is that on a level playing field, just as a movie in and of itself, there's some pretty serious structural and plot flaws.

 

I kinda feel the same. What I don't understand is why TLJ feels like an attempt to create a new trilogy in the middle of an existing trilogy.

 

TFA was supposed to tear things down, and it didn't. But it did introduce enough 'new' to take things in a fun direction for new fans, while also keeping old fans on board for the ride. If they were going to go this route of tearing down the old and in with the new why do it halfway through the trilogy? Seriously puzzling and strange. I can fully accept that Star Wars will evolve and change and it may not all appeal to older fans, but TLJ took the concept of 'out with the old' to such an extreme that it is seriously polarising fans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree, Id add that TLJ did that in a subpar film as well which makes it harder to swallow. I mean we knew Luke would probably end up a Force Ghost, we knew Carrie had died, but TLJ has a thin plot stretched out as far as it can and then on top of that with a Remember the Prequels side episode pasted right into the middle of it.

 

Dont get me wrong, everything about the film feels like Star Wars... it just doesnt feel like a sequel to TFA. I know that sounds weird considering all the returning elements and characters. I guess its like watching A New Hope and then watching Attack of the Clones, the tone and styles and the gimmie more more even more visuals of this universe approach etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's kinda like watching 2010, a standard 80s science fiction movie, as a direct sequel to 2001, an auteur driven, semi-art film made in another era.

 

Sure, it's a continuation of the story, but tonally, stylistically, and visually it's entirely different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Weekend estimate is in.

 

$220 million Fri-Sun. Only $27 million behind The Force Awakens and solidly #2 for the biggest opening ever.

 

 

 

It's kinda like watching 2010, a standard 80s science fiction movie, as a direct sequel to 2001, an auteur driven, semi-art film made in another era.

 

Sure, it's a continuation of the story, but tonally, stylistically, and visually it's entirely different.

 

I'd go the opposite way myself since I think TFA was the standard movie and TLJ was the one created by someone wanting to fashion art.

 

My problems with TFA remain that it's such a trite, safe movie among other complaints. TLJ isn't deathly afraid of its audience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually dont see what is so woke or new in either, especially TLJ. None of the concepts are anything that has not been touched on in fiction or science fiction since forever. The woke aspect of war and economics was a huge theme in the 60s, for instance. Granted it could be NBCing It, if you havent seen it then its new to you, but this is as much an art house a film as The Phantom Menace was technically an independent movie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if anyone is calling it an arthouse movie but I do think it takes some balls to have your main protagonist and antagonist go up against each other in that way. Their conflict in the movie is completely mental and emotional and basically not at all physical. They don't fight each other in the movie, they don't have a lightsaber fight. Very few people would have had the guts to 1-not have Rey vs Kylo dual and 2-not have Luke vs Kylo in a traditional way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exactly but what was the last Episodic Star Wars movie to not have a saber dual at the end, it was in 1977. Obviously that was before any expectations were on it or any idea of what a lightsaber was. Since then they've all had saber duals as basically the climax of the movie and a highlight of the movie. We are conditioned to get one. To not give us something that every single viewer fully expects, that is risky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the difference is that JJ flat out said to himself I think "what do people want in a Star Wars movie" and then gave it to us. Thats not a criticism or complaint, I love The Force Awakens. But I think that was essentially how is writing process started. Let me give them these things that they want/expect and then Ill fill in around it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You keep saying the film didnt end with a saber duel, but it did. o.O Just because it ends up that Luke wasnt there does not negate that the duel happened. Thats just a neat twist.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, I'm not saying it's an art house film. I'm just saying that Johnson had a bold vision, at least for the Rey/Ben/Luke half of the film and he executed it exceedingly well. Kylo Ren in particular has grown into the most complex and sympathetic villain the series has ever seen based on this single film, after the disappointing retread of Anakin Skywalker found in TFA. Tank used to say that TFA gave him the Anakin that should have been in the Prequels, but I'd counter that TLJ was the movie that did that.

 

But he had to take the chance of demystifying Luke in order to do so. Given how risk-averse Kennedy and Disney seem to be, that is something I didn't expect and showed some audacity. Even the ending, reaffirming the value of Luke's legend after spending the whole movie questioning it, showed that he had confidence in his vision. Someone here said that he told his child that the kid was symbolic of the hope for kids in the Star Wars galaxy. I think the kid was representative of us in the audience and perhaps even the director himself. How we grow up playing with our action figures, dreaming of being Luke Skywalker and what he represents. How the world changes based on those heroes.

 

I'll agree that he generally didn't know what to do with the other characters, and plopping down the "war profiteers are bad" concept in the middle of the film just had me scratching my head. I'll only repeat that Finn should have died in the crash on Jakku and saved us all the headache of the wacky antics of an ex-child soldier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with alot of what you said. I actually think in a way the story of Kylo till this point is the story of the prequels. The backstory is episode I, he has some darkness in him but is still essentially a good kid but a horrid event pushes him towards the darkside. TFA is Episode II, he is still teetering and maybe has a chance to turn back. Episode III is the end, he turns completely dark.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest El Chalupacabra

I wonder if TLJ will have a lot of fans (more than a typical Star Wars movie, anyway) will return multiple times to see TLJ. I found that my second viewing to be much better than the first, and I may see it a third time later when the crowds die down some, breaking my own personal rule of not seeing a movie more than twice in the theater.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.