There was never really any doubt going into this, but it looks like Disney’s decision to buy Lucasfilm for the rights to Star Wars was a smart financial decision. If you needed more confirmation, it comes in the form of The Last Jedi pushing the take on Disney’s three Star Wars installments up above $4 billion, the price Disney paid to acquire Lucasfilm.
The box office numbers on The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi have been impressive, to say the least. The long awaited sequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, The Force Awakens, raked in just over $2 billion globally while stand alone film Rogue One also broke the $1 billion barrier. And two weeks into its North American release, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi has already topped the $900 million mark, and it still has a premiere in China on January 5, 2018 to look forward to.
Of course, it’s worth noting that these are gross amounts, as in they don’t account for the additional costs Disney incurred making the Star Wars films. And these movies aren’t cheap: The Force Awakens cost $300 million and The Last Jedi was $200 million. But the $4 billion milestone is still pretty impressive given the Disney-Lucasfilm deal was announced in October of 2012, and these numbers don’t even include the mountains of money Disney must make in other ways off the franchise.
Five years, three films, four billion dollars. You could definitely say the Force is with Disney.
