Unsurprisingly, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” easily won the battle of the holiday box office this past weekend. As Deadline reports, the “Star Wars” anthology story took in $290.5 million over the weekend. The numbers break down to $155 million domestically and $135.5 million overseas.
The female-led “Rogue One” revolves around Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) being tasked with stealing the plans to the Death Star, the very plans that Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) stows away inside R2-D2 and are found by Luke Skywalker in the first “Star Wars” outing. The story line was inspired by a part of the opening crawl of the first film, which reads: “During the battle, rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star…”
“Rogue One” marks the second “Star Wars” film in a row where the lead character is female. Women have been major fans of “Star Wars” for as long as the franchise has been around. As exit polls detailed, 41 percent of the opening weekend “Rogue One” audience was female.
It’s the second best December opening ever, coming in behind “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens,” last year’s return to the saga, which starred Daisy Ridley. The difference makes sense; while “Rogue One” revisits old plot points with new characters, “The Force Awakens” saw the return of fan favorites and revealed new elements of the universe. Prognosticators are saying “Rogue One” might take in about $600 million total, theatrically.
